


The Ashen Avenger

by ValentinLaboy



Series: Marvel Fanfiction Universe [1]
Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Captain Marvel (2019), DC Extended Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Suicide Squad (2016), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Crossover Pairings, Difficult Decisions, F/M, For Want of a Nail, Gen, Heroism, Immortality, Inner Dialogue, Magic, Not A Fix-It, Strength, Survival, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-08-20 11:27:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 61,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20227099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValentinLaboy/pseuds/ValentinLaboy
Summary: A young woman on the cusp of beginning her life has a fateful encounter with a powerful entity. Her life as she knows it comes to an abrupt end, paving the way for a new destiny that she never anticipated.A hero is born.





	1. Chapter 1

Archaeologist, Dr. June Moone. Born August 12, 1994 to a single mother. One of the youngest prodigies in the field of archaeology, acquiring her doctoral degree when she was 18 years old. No one in the world had ever achieved her expertise in such a short time, especially in the field of the study of the old world. Her choice of study? Mesoamerica. Nowhere in the world interested her more than the forgotten world of the ancient Americas. Colonialism had taken such a toll on the ancient American cultures that there are comparably few sites and ancient works than compared to those of Europe.

However, all was not easy. When she was sixteen, she heard voices in her head. Her mother briefly pulled her from school to receive treatment, fearing schizophrenia, but she never recovered from her psychological condition. Fortunately for her, June would only hear a voice saying her name. Over and over like a glitching microphone revealing a singer lip syncing. She did have some periods where she would never hear it.

At 19, she suffered the most devastating loss in her life. Her mother was in a car crash, one that did not immediately kill her, but from which she could never recover from her wounds. As she lay dying, June made her a promise.

"I promise you. I will be everything you want me to be. I will make a discovery and name you for it," she said.

"You haven't anything to promise me," her mother said. "You made me proud every day. I don't want you to be what I want you to be. I want you to be you...I love you..."

Those were the last words they shared before June's mother finally succumbed to her injuries, leaving her alone in the world.

Now, at age 20, she set off on an expedition through the jungles of Peru.

Her partner was supposed to accompany her, but he ended up stuck back home, having lost his passport. For a couple of days, she warred with herself, having to choose between going to accomplish her life's dream or to stay behind because of a friend's foolish error. She chose the former, and traversed the jungles of Peru by herself. She wasn't idiotic enough to come unprepared, she still had her satellite phone in a worst case scenario and enough food and water in her bag to last for several days.

As she wandered the lush jungle, she came upon a cave, one that she'd never seen before. Not in pictures, not in historical texts, nowhere. It was the remnants of an ancient Incan temple, but it wasn't one that was famous, or maybe even been discovered.

"What are you? I've never seen in you before," she said at the cave's entrance. Right in front, there was an enormous hole, a shaft leading down. June hooked up climbing gear directly to the cave entrance wall and lowered herself in slowly but surely. With every few feet, June had to catch her breath and calm down. Climbing was not one of her strong suits.

Her fears became justified when her anchor gave way, causing her to fall through the hole.

The impacts against the walls of the hole and the floor knocked the wind out of June. It took her several moments to even move, and even longer to stand up. But miraculously, she was relatively unharmed, aside from cuts and scrapes. She oriented herself and got her bearings. The shaft led down to a large cavern, an empty one. There was almost nothing in the cavern. It was like an endless field, she couldn't see the walls of the cavern.

Much to her horror, she saw the remnants of skeletons, several of them nearby. She was not a mortician, but she could tell that some of these people had been here for decades. Some of them had visibly broken bones, and a couple of them had their skulls cracked open. Some of the skeletons looked fresher, some of them with traces of flesh still on their bones. The most horrifying ones for June to see were the skeletons that had visibly broken spinal columns.

June hyperventilated in utter horror, realizing that she didn't stumble on a discovery. She fell right into a deathtrap. She backed up and kept backing up, screaming in sheer horror. She ended backing up into an altar, not realizing that she had knocked a totem-like doll to the ground. She only noticed it when she heard maniacal laughter echoing through the cavern.

_"EH, HA HA HA HA HA!"_

A large trail of ominous smoke emerged around June, pushing away the skeletons. The smoke collected in one single place, until it gathered to make the human woman. Or rather, something that resembled a human. The creature resembled June herself, down to her body's proportions, her likeness, and her shape.

However, June was of golden pale clear skin, with beautiful blue eyes, and naturally light brown hair that extended to her mid-back.

The female creature was of light pale skin covered with black patches of ash and tribal tattoos all over her skin, glowing orange eyes, and pitch-black messy hair that extended to her thighs. She was also wearing beaded chains and a bikini made from tiny chains as well. Adding her to her ominous presence was an aura of ash complemented with floating embers.

It moved in a feral crawl, inching its way toward June ever so slightly. She could only stand there, paralyzed, her face blank of any emotion. She only stood there, trapped in her own body as the feminine creature approached her little by little. As it came closer, it stood upright, walking in a sultry position. With a slight smile on its face, it placed its face right in front of June's. One second later, and the creature dissolved into ripples and flowed into June's body.

It was only then that she finally reacted. She reached for her mouth and her nose, vainly attempting to keep the creature outside of her body. She fell to the ground, writhing, clawing at herself, desperately wanting the creature out of her body.

_"There is no point in struggling,"_ it said.

"You...you're the voice I was hearing," June muttered in utter shock.

_"I am, my dear. I have waited so long for someone like yourself to come and free me from my prison."_

"You're the one who tormented me, made me believe I was crazy."

_"Forgive me, my dear. You are the only one with whom I am compatible."_

"You're just in my head. You're just a hallucination, a figment of my mind trying to process this," June stammered.

_"I am not a figment of your mind. Your mind is quite intact."_

"None of this is real. None of this is real, June."

_"If you want evidence, say my name. Enchantress."_ The voice goaded and goaded June, breaking her resistance more and more until she finally relented to what she thought were hallucinations.

"Enchantress..."

The transformation was slow. First, Enchantress's aura of ash and embers engulfed June. Then, her skin turn pale, and areas of her skin darkened with ash. In a cloud of ash and ripples, the rest of June's body and clothes changed to the witch. The witch stood up slowly, walking around, and summoning small balls of magic using June's body. She could only watch as her body was used without her own input.

_"Do you still believe I am a figment of your mind?"_

* * *

June awakened in her apartment back in New York City. All of her stuff was there, her bag, her satellite phone, her previously broken camera... and the pajamas she was wearing the night before she left. She looked around her apartment, a mixture of relief and confusion creeping its way inside of her. Slowly. Like a dripping bucket with endless water dripping itself into a room sealed room. Drip. Drip. Drip.

With a growing sense of trepidation, she stood up from her bed. Was everything that happened to her nothing more than a dream? Could it have been? It felt so real to June. She didn't remember falling asleep or anything of the sort. She walked around her apartment, ensuring that her door was still locked, that her windows were still intact, and that all of her things were in the right place.

She went to the bathroom to splash some water on her face, hoping to wash away the pain of the nightmare that she endured. She looked at herself in the mirror. There were no injuries on her face, no cuts, scrapes, or bruises consistent with falling down a hole in the middle of a cave in the Peruvian jungle. She washed off the stress born of the nightmare. When she saw her reflection once more, she realized that it wasn't imitating her movements. It stared at her, standing still with a creepy mischievous smile on her face. June backed up until she fell headfirst into the tub.

Except that she didn't. She fell into a pair of arms. June instinctively sought out the face of her catcher. It was the creature, the Enchantress.

"Just a dream. Just a dream," June muttered to herself.

_"Darling. If this were a dream, would this hurt?"_ Enchantress said, pinching June's shoulder.

June still refused to believe that this was real. She stood up and ran to the medicine cabinet in the kitchen. She dug out the basket full of medicine bottles, spilling everything onto the floor. She frantically dug around for her medication designed to help with her auditory hallucinations. She finally found it and spilled all of the remaining pills onto the counter, frantically panicking and hyperventilating. She grabbed several pills and a bottle of water. Before she could take one pill, the pills floated from her hand.

The bottle for them floated, too. All but one of the pills returned to the bottle which was sealed shut with an invisible force. June followed the bottle as it floated right into the hands of Enchantress.

_"If you take that many pills simultaneously, you could die. Of course, you knew that."_

The lone pill left out of the bottle floated into June's hand, as did the water.

_"Go ahead, take the pill. I will still be here."_

She didn't take the pill.

"Last I remembered, I was in the cave, with you inside me," June said.

_"You remember correctly. What you don't remember is that when you called my name, I took control of your body. I brought you here."_

"But if you were inside me, why are you out of me?"

_"I can leave my home whenever I want, just like you can. My problem is that I can only be away for so long until I must return. I also can only go a limited distance from my home. The more I use magic out of your body, the amount of time I have lessens."_

"How long do you have?"

_"Roughly three hours with no magic usage. There are ways of increasing that time."_

"How did you know to bring me here?"

_"Your driver's license."_

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you can teleport," June said quietly. The witch's response was to disappear in a flurry of ripples and ash, reappearing standing next to June, and then return to the chair just the same. "Okay. That's impressive."

_"Why are you still afraid?"_

"All of the skeletons. What were they all about?"

_"Others who found my resting place. Many of them found my prison, but none of them were compatible. Unfortunate souls who wandered into a cave they should never have found,"_ Enchantress said sympathetically. _"Dozens who died slowly and painfully because of a group determined to keep me hidden."_

"What do you mean?"

_"Millennia ago, when the history of your modern world was but a dream of a few, there came a monster. A nameless, formless monster that was determined to consume the Earth. They called it Hive. It was so powerful that I and many other beings of power worked to banish it from this plane of existence. A group sprung in the wake of this creature with the sole purpose of bringing it back to this world. This group would allow wanderers and stragglers to fall into the hole that led to my altar, and would ensure they could never escape."_

"Wait," June said in horror. "Are you telling me that the reason I fell into that hole was because someone cut my rope?"

_"Yes. You were one of many who found my tomb, but you had something none of those other stragglers did. Compatibility."_

"What do you mean?"

_"I am immortal, I do not age and I am difficult to harm let alone kill. However, my various bodies are not immortal. I must change bodies once my current one ages and withers. I can sense compatible hosts. However, from my totem prison, I could only call to various compatible hosts over the years. Some people spent their entire lifetime hearing my voice."_

"So... your voice. You saying my name over the years. It was a call for help?"

_"It was. My last host... she was powerful, but alas she fell victim to the blade of a member of the group determined to bring back Hive. With her death, my powers were weakened, and I was vulnerable. They sealed me away, not possessing any weaponry with the power to kill me. And for thousands of years, I waited for a compatible host to find and free me as you did."_

"This group... the ones that sealed you away... how long until they realize that you escaped that hole?"

_"They probably already know. Whenever a stranger comes into the cave, they come to make sure that the person is dead. If not, they finish the job while the person is begging for their help, in the tragic belief that the person was there to help them."_

"Shit..." June said flatly.

* * *

A HYDRA agent named Michael Moore drew his gun and turned on his night vision goggles.

"Find anything sir?" asked one of his fellow agents. As Moore examined the cave, he found no fresh body of a young woman. Instead, he found the totem, broken on the ground.

"This is Moore. The totem is broken. She's free."


	2. Chapter 2

"Boss, we have something!"

Moore walked over to the technician's station. A couple of days earlier, Moore discovered that the ashen witch was freed from her ancient prison. Now, they had to struggle to identify the woman who disappeared from the cavern. The only thing they had were some low-quality surveillance pictures of the area.

They had a primitive general description. Roughly 5'8", long light brown hair, slim build, pale skin. A description that matched millions of people across the world. They didn't even have a read on her nationality… maybe she was English, American, Australian, hell, maybe even South African.

They ran her face through every database they had, but they had nothing. This woman was never on S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA's watchlists. That means it would take a few more days until they could discern the woman's identity.

"What is it? Tell me it's good news," Moore said angrily, casually knocking over another person's computer screen uncaringly.

"We don't have anything on the subject, but I did some searching into any satellite phones in the area at the time, and I found something." A display popped up on the screen as the technician continued his explanation. "Look. A satellite phone was pinging in this area at around 1800 hours, right around the time the woman was here. But a few minutes later, that satellite phone appeared in New York City."

"What address?" he said, finally happy to hear good news after two days of nothing but dead ends. "If we get her now, while she's weak, we can save ourselves a fucking shitload of trouble."

"Getting it riiiight… now."

* * *

June stared intently at the candle on the dining room table. She concentrated all of her energy onto the unlit candle, getting a feel for the abilities Enchantress claimed that she had. She didn't know what powers she had, so she used a candle as a guinea pig. In her heart, she still had to ask herself if she truly had the capability to fight back. One of her biggest virtues in life was never to harm another soul, harming anyone went against everything she believed in.

"Do I even have abilities?"

_"Personality powers are the rule with my magic. Any host I take adapts my magic to fit their own personality. Take care, though, personality does not determine all of one's powers,"_ Enchantress explained within June.

"Well that's nice to know."

_"Think of the times in your life where you were at your most emotional. Do not just think of the event, feel it. Magic is not practical, it's emotional."_

The first thing that came to June's mind was her mother. Sorrow was the most prominent emotion in that moment, flowing into her like the Biblical flood. But she was also angry. Angry that the doctors couldn't save her… that she couldn't save her… that she died. Following the witch's advice, June let the sorrow and the rage flood her at once. She even let the love for her mother that kept her going every day in.

She closed her eyes and let everything in.

_"June. Open your eyes."_

Milky light emerged from her hands. It left an aura, a soft, beautiful haze, comforting. It created translucent beautiful white clouds between her hands. As June's power activated, her irises were pulsing white, too. Gathering her hands together, the light coalesced into a spherical shape, glowing brighter. The light had a distinctive, comforting hum.

_"You're a guardian. That power is designed to heal, strengthen, and protect."_

"What do you mean?" June asked. In the same instant, the milky light vanished.

_"That power, you can use it to make people stronger, to heal them of sickness and injury, and to protect them. As of yet, our powers are still primitive. You are learning quickly to access your abilities, but you have much to learn. With time, your powers will grow beyond anything you could ever imagine."_

"What other abilities may I develop?" June inquired, growing excited about the prospect of powers.

_"No telling. The default powers include healing and augmentation, but many of my homes have had various other abilities. Some developed parasitic powers, some could resurrect those who had been dead for millennia, some could transfer energy from one creature to another."_

"So, I just have to wait?"

_"Correct. If your next question refers to the length of time for these abilities to manifest, there is no set time. Most develop their unique powers by default. Some develop new powers as the years pass, others don't. Most don't develop new abilities, so much as developing new applications for their standard abilities."_

"If I'm a healer, that also probably means I have no real fighting powers, right?" June said with solemn realization.

_"Unfortunately, yes. But that is no problem. Leave any combat to me. Many of my homes have had no combat abilities, and it was no impedance."_

June's phone went off, ringing with her friend's ringtone.

"Oh man, I am so late for my lunch date with my friend," June said. She quickly gathered her things. Too quickly. So quickly that everything was slow around her. She didn't realize it until she stopped and felt the draft in the room from her excessive speed.

"Whoa. What just happened?"

_"Yet another ability that many defenders have. Enhanced speed is perfect for defensive purposes."_

"I get it, the faster I move the faster I can protect others. Push them out of the way, right?"

_"Yes, and for other reasons, too."_

June left the apartment building, and made her way to her Jeep, in normal speed. She quickly realized that normal speed felt very slow, like she was walking slowly, even though she was fully aware that she was moving at a relatively normal pace.

"Wow. I suddenly hate moving at a normal speed now."

_"Everyone like you said that."_

She met up with her best friend that she lost contact with for a few years, Akiko Yamashiro, or just Kiko. They met when June was in her first semester in college and Kiko was in her semifinal semester. The two women grew close quickly, but lost contact for a few years after Kiko's husband died in a housefire. They reunited by chance in New York City a few years afterwards.

"You're late, again," Kiko said. While her name was fully Japanese, and had the looks and height to match, Kiko spoke in an American accent in English. Kiko told June that she had a Kyoto accent… or dialect… or something of the sort when she spoke Japanese.

"Sorry, lost track of time."

"I would ask if you were jet lagged, but that doesn't happen when you travel north and south," Kiko said with a smile. "How was your trip?"

"Ummmm… Fun…" June said flatly.

"That's it? You go on your first trip to South America and it's just fun?"

"Well, let's just say… I found something," June said.

"Ooooh, what?"

June told Kiko a very abridged and inaccurate version of the events that led her to the Enchantress. She told her that she found a cave out in the jungle near Cusco, one that was hard to find. She left out the part where she fell into the cave, hurting herself badly, and obviously left out the part where she bonded with an ashen sorceress.

"Wow… I really wish that I'd been there," Kiko said.

"So do I," June said.

While the conversation was light-hearted and jovial, there was still an aura of sorrow between the two women. It was tangible enough that June felt the sorrowful aura, but suppressed it to keep her friend in a good state of mind. The last thing she wanted was to resurrect the pain of Kiko's horrifying loss.

After two hours, the women returned to June's apartment. When they arrived, Kiko went into the building first, having a key of her own to the apartment. June stayed outside, packing up some of the leftovers in the trunk to bring inside.

_"I like her." _June was relieved to hear her say that.

* * *

June shot awake from a nightmare at 3 in the morning.

_"You poor thing. Shall I help you sleep?"_ Enchantress's voice was the definition of playful.

"That's the last thing I need," June muttered. She got up and went straight for the kitchen. She thought about using a small flashlight, but the full moon provided enough light. Whenever she had nightmares, there was one thing she would consume to ease her mind: hot chocolate. It could have been the hottest day of the year, and it wouldn't make a difference, she would still have her hot chocolate to ease her mind from a nightmare.

_"Of all things for you to drink after a nightmare."_ The witch was clearly resisting the urge to laugh.

As June sat in her chair, she relaxed looking at the beautiful moon. She took the time to realize how connected she was with it. Her mother claimed, and June confirmed that she was born on a full moon, her last name was Moone, and now a physical goddess inhabited her body whose overall theme was the moon.

She observed the moon and enjoyed her drink when she felt a strange sensation in her chest. She looked down to find an ethereal gray arm protruding from her chest. For a moment, she believed it was a distant remnant of a dream.

"I'd be very careful if I were you," said a distorted electronic voice. "If I here one word come out of your mouth…well, I don't need to spell it out do I? To either of you? Nod if you understand."

A paralyzed June lightly nodded her head.

"And what about you?" he said. June looked around and saw Enchantress standing nearby, ready to fight whoever was behind June. However, she restrained herself, not believing that she could get the assassin's phased arm out of June's body before he solidified it. Neither woman knew nor wanted to know the result of said action.

_"I understand."_

"Get back inside her," ordered the assassin. After Enchantress acquiesced at June's silent insistence, the assassin said, "Now we are going to go for a walk."

June stood up. Her heart was racing, sweat pouring down the side of her face, her hands and body trembling. She cried tears of horror, her breathing pulsing and quaking.

"All you have to do is listen to me and nothing bad will happen to you," the assassin said. "I don't want to kill you. Please don't do anything to make me have to kill you."

_"June, when I say 'go', drop yourself to the left."_

She walked forward slow.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Now she was right outside the door to her apartment.

_"Go."_

At exactly the same second that she heard the voice in her head, June used her right arm and leg to shove herself down and from the floor away from the assassin's arm before he could solidify it. One moment later, Kiko came from nowhere, strobing the gray-clad assassin with the flashlight June kept in the kitchen.

The attack stunned the assassin enough for Kiko to grab June and run down the stairs and out the front door. Unfortunately, the assassin had recovered his eyesight and phased through the wall and dropped to the front to meet them. He waited for them right out in front of the building, where the entire area had lost power, leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the area.

June ordered Kiko to run. And then uttered, "Enchantress…"

The sight of June's transformation did nothing to deter the grey-clad ghost-like assassin, who June and Enchantress both determined from the shape and appearance was a woman. The gray-clad woman was standing firmly, but the ethereal images flashing around her showed barely visible phantoms of her in different positions, almost like a ghost. Realizing that the woman's intangibility also meant she would be able to avoid Enchantress's magic, the witch smiled and readied herself for a melee battle. The witch was excited for a good fight, though was no fool to underestimate her opponent.

The witch and the ghost charged at one another, neither backing down. The ghost made the first move, grazing the witch's face with her strong fist. The witch realized too late that this was a feint move, and the ghost punched her in the gut with impressive strength, enough to stun the witch briefly.

The witch recovered far more quickly than the ghost anticipated, opening up the chance for the witch to attack. A powerful jab from her fist swept under the ghost's feet, leaving her airborne and helpless. The witch followed up with blast of electrokinetic magic. Her powers had been weakened, but she still possessed them.

However, the ghost phased through her hand and her magic, though that didn't stop the impact with the ground from stunning her enough for the witch to quickly kick her away. The ghost disappeared in midair.

"Have you ever seen this before?" June said from within the witch, terrified of what was happening.

_"I haven't."_

The witch was a veteran of many battles over her long existence, battles dating back to prehistoric times, to before even the peninsula that was called Europe rose to power. She existed as far back as before the ancient pyramids of Giza were constructed, back when Egypt was only consisting of the River Nile. Invisibility and intangibility were among the many powers she had come into conflict with, but this was different. The witch sensed no magical force at play, yet this woman had incredible abilities.

The ghost reappeared in front of the witch, throwing a punch aimed at her face. Enchantress managed to avoid it just in time and counterattack with a forceful kick. This time, the ghost phased through Enchantress's body, avoiding the kick, and emerging behind her.

The witch aimed another incredibly strong punch charged with electrical power at her helmet. The ghost caught the witch's entire arm in her left hand, and then used her right hand to phase into Enchantress's chest. The witch screamed in horror, realizing that the ghost had known her weakness. It was then that she realized that this was a member of the group dedicated to keeping her prisoner.

The assassin ripped the witch's heart from her body. She readied herself for her death, but expressed great sorrow to June, realizing that this meant that she would also die. The witch hated herself for not seeing this ahead of time, that the ghost would probably do that.

"Bring back June, or I will crush this," the ghost ordered.

"Just do it! Please!" June begged.

Knowing she had no other choice if she wanted herself and/or June to live, she muttered, "Enchantress…"

"Are we going to have any more problems?" the ghostly assassin asked, with ominous serenity.

"No," June uttered.

The ghost recoiled, holding her arm in pain, and then was knocked to the ground.

It was Kiko, she was back, wielding a crowbar. She knocked the witch's heart from the assassin's hand and knocked her down with multiple strikes of the crowbar to the ghost's head. She grabbed Enchantress's heart and June and brought them both to June's car.

"I thought I told you to run away," June said, returning the Enchantress's heart.

"I did. I ran away back into the apartment to get back the car key. Then I saw that you were on the ropes and found a crowbar. You didn't think I'd actually leave you, did you?"

"Thank you," June quietly said, nearly crying.


	3. Chapter 3

"How did you let the same girl catch you off guard twice?" asked a contained, but highly irate Moore.

"I didn't think she was a threat. I underestimated her," said the gray-clad woman.

"Starr… S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't send you here because you make excuses. They sent you here because you give results," Moore said with poison in his voice. Agent Ava Starr was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. with some of the greatest success among the metahumans in the ranks of the organization.

S.H.I.E.L.D. truthfully was hardly anything more than an alternate name for HYDRA. The greatest intelligence apparatus in the world served no more than a nest for the parasite that was HYDRA to grow. But not all within S.H.I.E.L.D. were aware of this fact, Ava Starr included.

"I wasn't making any excuses," Ava claimed.

"Good. Your résumé speaks for itself. I expect nothing less than success with this mission."

"Locate the pair, and I'll add one more success to my résumé," Ava said dryly, not enthusiastic about her mission. She wasn't enthusiastic about any of them truth be told. But she did so anyways, vainly hoping that they could help cure her terminal condition.

When she was a child, her father Elihas Starr was discredited by scientist Hank Pym during his S.H.I.E.L.D. days. Desperate to restore his good name, he created an unstable quantum tunnel. He ordered Ava and her mother Catherine to run, but Ava didn't want her father to be alone. The tunnel exploded, killing Elihas and Catherine, but leaving young Ava in a perpetual state of pain and phasing in and out of the physical plane.

S.H.I.E.L.D. saw an opportunity to create a weapon. They gave her a suit and all the equipment she needed to control her phasing and turned Ava into a masterful stealth operative. In exchange, they were going to find a cure for her.

As of right now, the only thing they had that was even close to a cure was a chamber built with a similar mechanism to her suit, designed to help dampen the pain of her condition and to slow her quantum decay.

* * *

Kiko brought June to a derelict-looking cabin in the woods. She brought her to a secret surveillance room hidden within the basement, where she had cameras all over the place, and a fully functional bed and bathroom. The sight of the surveillance and everything else in the cabin left June speechless.

She thought she knew who Kiko was but realized very quickly that she really didn't.

"You want to start explaining why you turned into a succubus-looking thing?" Kiko asked.

"It's a long story," June muttered.

"Not long enough for you not to tell me. Maybe I'll start it. I'm guessing it has to do with Peru?" Kiko said flatly.

"Yes, but it starts far earlier. When I was sixteen, I left school to receive treatment for auditory hallucinations. I thought I had schizophrenia. Medication was minimally helpful, but I was in good enough shape to continue school. I never recovered from it," June explained. "When I went to Peru, I went into that cave. I fell into a large hole and there was nothing but human skeletons at the bottom. I panicked, and I ran into an altar of some kind. I knocked this doll off of it…"

"And out of it came that… thing?"

"She's a witch, and the title she has is Enchantress," June said. "If I specifically invoke her name, I shift into her, and the same goes the other way around."

"But how does that explain why those people are after you?"

"To shorten an even longer story, the witch was sealed away because she was a threat to a group that wanted to resurrect a horrifying monster. Thousands of years ago, a monster was banished from this world, by the witch, and by other magic users. The group that attacked us were descendants of the group that coalesced specifically to bring it back."

"This group was guarding that hole for all these years?" Kiko speculated.

"Yes. Rather than constantly guiding people away from it, they let people wander in, and would throw them to their deaths. They did that with me, they cut my climbing rope and let me fall. It worked, but they didn't realize that I was compatible with the witch," June said.

"Compatible?"

June explained further. "The witch needs a host in order to live in our world. When she was imprisoned, she had no problem reaching out to potentially viable hosts, but none of them ever wandered into the cave, until I came along."

"And now that the witch is free, this group is after you?" Kiko asked.

"Yes. They know that this is the best time to come after us, because she's weak and my new abilities are underdeveloped," June explained.

"Get you while you're weak, clever move," Kiko said.

_"I should not have been so arrogant. I should have known that I would not win against a person with her abilities as I am now. I need more time to regain my powers and my strength. I enjoy fighting far too much for my own good. For yours, too."_

"It's okay," June reassured her mentally. "You've been in a doll for thousands of years without a physical body and your magic's drained. You won't be in the best position to fight very well, and that's fine. We just need to take this slower, and at least now we know what she's capable of. And I'm not gonna give you any flak for enjoying a fight, even if I'm not exactly a fan of it either."

_"I appreciate the support, but I nearly killed us both."_

June stopped speaking, knowing that she wouldn't be able to pull Enchantress from her self blame. She returned her focus to Kiko, asking her the obvious question about why she had all of the surveillance equipment.

"I have my reasons for this," she answered vaguely.

"Care to explain? Cause I just did a lot of it," June said.

"If I told you, you'd run from me the first chance you got," Kiko responded.

June was tempted to keep on prodding, but she ultimately didn't.

* * *

June and Enchantress trained together with their powers and their ability to fight. Enchantress practiced first. The bond between the two had grown enough that Enchantress could leave June's body and go a considerable distance away.

It had been three days since the trio of women went into hiding. June fully decided that it was better if she didn't ask Kiko any questions about how she knew all of the things she did about hiding from a criminal organization.

June tossed rocks into the air as targets for the witch's magic, rocks large enough that she needed two hands to throw them.

The first large rock hovered in the air for a few moments before shattering in flames from within. Another stone was sliced into pieces with highly concentrated air current beams. Another froze and shattered against the ground. The last one was hit with a strike of small lightning that scorched its surface, though because is not very effective against rocks, it didn't do much more.

The witch switched between the various applications of her elemental powers, smiling as she destroyed the various rocks, even laughing gleefully with every rock she wrecked. Normally, she'd need to be ripping apart evildoers in spades to elicit a joyful reaction, but this would suffice for the time being. She couldn't wait for a rematch against Ava, and she especially couldn't wait to get back to being a one-woman army. This was not something she indicated to the soft-hearted June.

When it was June's turn to practice, the witch used her fire power to heavily burn a small plant, though left it alive. June focused on the love she had for her late mother, and for everyone in her life. For her, it was hard to focus on anything else, because her mind never allowed her to stay angry, not even with her most bitter bully in school, who had made it a personal mission to get a violent reaction from June.

When she was a teenager, she lost one of her best friends because of faulty advice from her mother. She spent the whole day after realizing the mistake too late practicing a complete speech of hatred and anger for her mother.

"Hey baby," her mother called out when she came home. "I'm home."

"Hey mama," June said, having completely forgotten her speech, and her anger.

That was who June was, a person who couldn't hold onto anger or hatred, at least not for long. It was far easier for her to just love and care about others than to hate them.

The milky light from her hands restored life to the plant, making it seem like the plant never felt the heat of a flame.

As the training continued, Enchantress would conjure wounds on various increasingly larger plants, like small brush, to a bush, and finally a tree. June was a natural, healing small burns on tree bark to restoring a freshly cut-down tree.

There was a noticeable weakness, however: June could only heal a single target at once.

_"You're a natural-born healer. Every healer that I have had was also a master of augmentation."_

"What do you mean by that?"

_"You can make those around you stronger for a short while. They can become physically stronger, more resilient to injury, immunity to poisons and magic."_

"How can I test that?" June wondered aloud.

"On me," Kiko said, volunteering herself. "Look at this large rock here. I can't hope to pick it up, even if I am in good shape. Maybe you can test your power on me."

"Are you sure?"

_"There is no risk involved in augmenting strength,"_Enchantress reassured.

"I can do this, June."

She relented. Kiko knelt and gripped the large stone with her bare palms. June channeled her power and wished for Kiko to become stronger. She quickly discovered that she could channel the same love she used for her healing power to fuel her supportive powers. The milky light from her hands entered Kiko's body, causing her irises to turn white and her skin have small vein-like formations throughout her body.

Kiko's body was flooded with magic, she felt a surge of power growing inside of her. It flooded every cell in her body. When she lifted the stone, it was like she was lifting an enormous feather, she lifted it with little effort and tossed it over ten feet away.

_"You're incredible. Even the most natural of supporters in my time have never learned this quickly."_

Kiko continued to have fun with her rush of pure strength, using her bare fists to break the rock to pieces, at least until she felt the magic wear off a few minutes afterwards.

_"I believe your powers will grow to far more than simple healing and support. You have incredible potential."_

"I hope so," June said.

Later in the day, the two women were driving across an open field at high noon. The sky was clear, no clouds, the idyllic countryside day. This, compared to the unnaturally fast and hectic world of cities and survival from criminal organizations, was a paradise.

"If only the world was as peaceful as this place," June muttered to herself. "But everything looks like heaven when you don't see it often."

The scenery flowed by like a river of greenery and peace. The serenity contrasted with the danger they were in. It was like the Biblical Eden. Beautiful, idyllic, peaceful. All three of which were a rare commodity in the modern world. Hell, it was rare even in the ancient world, cause even if one conflict in the world didn't affect the other side of the planet, there was still perpetual conflicts between peoples all across the world transcending oceans and continents.

Aboriginal peoples were in conflict with one another for many millennia, the people of Europe thought themselves superior with their grandiose tools of war, the people of the Orient, especially China, evermore longing for conquer and expansion.

June silently wondered if there was ever an exception to this. Was there a world free of internal conflict, maybe even external conflict? June didn't just wonder, she quietly hoped for it. Hoped that peace and security and freedom could exist all at once. Freedom almost seemed to necessitate the absence of security which caused loss of peace. Peace apparently needed security to crack down on freedom.

Was it just the nature of living things to be in conflict? Or was that just the jaded perspective of humans?

A streak of light appeared in the sky alongside a powerful sonic boom. The meteor reached down from the heavens, coming closer and closer to the ground. Except… the meteor had a visibly clear windshield, and an occupant. Kiko slammed the brakes on the car, and the two women watched as the object crashed half-a-mile in the field.

Kiko and June looked at one another briefly. She drove the car to investigate the crashed object. The terrain was flat enough that the old car had no problem driving across the unpaved ground.

The object was some kind of space craft, one that was definitely not from Earth. The women opened the cockpit, and out staggered someone who was heavily injured, with a gaping hole in the side of his chest, with noticeably blue blood coming from his visibly mangled lung and ribs. His breathing was ragged, and he stumbled, mumbling incoherently, holding a bag.

June felt a huge surge of intense discomfort throughout her body. It flooded every cell in her body, putting her into equal agony with the space man. The pain came with one intuitive instinct: to heal.

The man collapsed, drawing his dying breaths. June instinctively knelt next to him, healing him of his injuries. It took considerable concentration and effort, far more than it took for her to heal the various trees that Enchantress damaged. She powered through the strain, not wanting this person to lose his life because of her incompetence, and also to alleviate her own internal pain.

While the very human-like space man was healed, the effects of his injuries still lingered, and he fell unconscious in short order.

As the three left the scene, various parties, including S.H.I.E.L.D. were en route to the scene as well. They left just in time to avoid meeting the other agents.


	4. Chapter 4

June and Kiko brought the space man back to the safe house. They removed his odd green and black uniform to make sure that he had no further injuries. The uniform had a unique star-like insignia on the area over the heart… at least, if the space-man's anatomy was similar to a human.

The space man had more injuries that altogether took June more than a minute, and a whole lot of physical strain to heal. There wasn't anything she could do about the healed scars on his body from wounds long sustained over what June could assume was a long tenure as a warrior.

She had to resist the urge to ogle him for his muscular frame, and his rather attractive face. He bore the appearance of a man in his forties and the firm body structure of a man who never lost the strength of his twenties. June had to keep pulling herself out of her gazing of his toned body.

Once the unconscious space man was healed, Kiko dressed him in the largest sweatpants she had on hand and chained him to the bed and brought June to the surveillance room.

"What in the hell just happened?" Kiko said.

"Ummmm… we found an alien that happens to look human and bleed red?" June said sheepishly.

"Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious," Kiko said sarcastically.

"What the hell was he babbling?" June asked rhetorically.

"Don't know. But I think we both know that he wasn't talking about anything on _this _planet, or even anything we could understand," Kiko muttered.

"Begs the question about why he came here."

The two women resigned to waiting until the man awakened to obtain the information necessary.

* * *

Agent Moore sat in his main information room looking over all the various monitors. No sign of Moone. None. He quietly admitted to himself that whoever was helping her was very clever at hiding. Not many people could spend 72 consecutive hours without somehow finding their way in front of a public camera.

He looked at some of the files on the witch that June freed. The last time she was free was over three thousand years earlier. Apparently, given the perfect host and enough powers, she can become a one-woman army. Nigh-unstoppable unless facing another master of mystical arts, and even then, there was no guarantee unless the host was killed.

He quietly hoped that it wasn't too late to stop the witch from gaining back her former powers because there were few beings left in the world that could hope to stand against the dark witch. If they were too late, then there was little hope of sealing her away or killing her, because she would be more than ready for the ambush tactic while separated from her host.

Moore took his attention away from the monitors and did what did best, take apart and reassemble a firearm. He did it with a mechanical precision honed over twenty years of being a member of HYDRA. He was offered a place in S.H.I.E.L.D., but he considered himself a terrible liar. It was much easier for him to simply do the dirty work than to pretend he was cleaning up after the dirty work.

He took apart his personal favorite weapon, a Desert Eagle. No one survives shots from this weapon when they hit. No one. There was always something magical to Moore about carrying the Grim Reaper of handguns in his holster. He felt strong and powerful.

He took the weapon apart and cleaned it up. He slowly put it back together as he remembered his very first kill with this weapon.

It was over fifteen years ago, on a mission of Taipei. He was a member of HYDRA, but he was also a contract killer. He worked for HYDRA, but also for good money. He was hired to murder an eccentric American billionaire, or at least that was what he wanted the world to see. In reality, he was the mastermind of a nine-year billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, robbing many Peters to pay many other Pauls.

When the scheme broke, he bolted. He took refuge in Taiwan. Not long after, Moore was hired to murder him. Within a week, he was in Taipei. He snuck through the compound, murdering guards with a ghostly silence. One by one, each guard fell to a stranglehold and a knife to the throat.

Once all of his guard were murdered, or otherwise neutralized, he found his target. He fit all the stereotypes of a malicious money man: fat, hideous, and surrounded by whores. Quietly, Moore quietly led each whore into the bathroom, threatening to murder them if they didn't comply. Once they were all gone, he locked them in the bathroom and turned his attention to the billionaire.

He woke him up with a startle and a Desert Eagle in his face. The billionaire begged for his life to no avail. He called to his dead guards to come save him. He got on his swollen fat-filled knees and begged for his life.

"Sorry, nothing personal," Moore said dryly. He activated the sound-cancelling feature of his comms and squeezed the trigger.

The discharge echoed through the entire mansion, resonating like a small nuclear blast. The whores in the bathroom held their ears in pain from the loudness and intensity of the shot. But those whores were lucky to have nothing but pain in their ears. Very lucky. Even the guards had it lucky, because they had intact bodies.

The billionaire? Not so much. With one squeeze of the Desert Eagle's trigger, his head literally exploded. Bone fragments shot all over the place, brain matter flying everywhere, blood splattering all around him. His corpse fell to the floor, pieces of his brain and brain stem and neck vertebrate jutted out against the wooden floors.

As Moore gazed over the remnants of his target, he felt something. A surge of pleasure, a fresh feeling of being high. It was like taking a breath of fresh, clean air. He found what he didn't know what he was looking for: his favorite method of killing. Nothing satisfied him more than to see his target's head explode from the power of his Desert Eagle.

One of Moore's underlings came in with a file and a package just as he finished putting his weapon back together.

"What do you have for me, Peña?"

"Forensics finally finished their sweep of Moone's apartment. They found mostly Moone's prints, but they also found another set of prints belonging to an Akiko Yamashiro. She's a young woman, lost her husband in a fire. She left the United States right afterwards, went back to Japan. She lived there for a few years before she came back. Lives in New York. Has little family, and hardly any contact over electronics with anyone. From what we gather, she's really close with Dr. Moone. She doesn't seem like the kind of person who could be a threat."

"Have you checked her out?" Moore said.

"Yes. Neighbors say they haven't seen her in days," Peña said. "We both know what that means."

"Yep. Yamashiro is probably the one helping Moone," Moore concluded. He thought about her and wondered where Yamashiro got her skills from. Moore quietly complimented her for being able to evade them. It would make it all the more satisfying when they finally found and killed her.

"And something else, sir. An extraterrestrial craft crashed out in Maine," Peña stated.

"Do I look like I give a fuck about another little spacecraft in the middle of nowhere?" Moore asked angrily and sarcastically.

"This particular middle of nowhere had something interesting for us. A couple of somethings for that matter."

"Well, you've officially piqued my interest," Moore said, sitting up in his chair.

"We found this." He pulled out a strange pistol-shaped weapon. Its discharge produced a powerful blast that blew a hole in the nearby wall. "Thought it'd be useful against the witch."

"And what's the other 'something'?" Moore asked.

He dropped a file on Moore's desk. As he sifted through the files, a slight smile grew on his face.

"Nice job," he said softly.

* * *

Kiko examined the newcomer's blood under a microscope, his oddly blue blood. She discovered that his blood cells were blue, but that his blood plasma was remarkably similar to a human's. She questioned why his skin wasn't a noticeable shade of blue, unless it was, and his true skin color mixed with blue to produce a skin-tone akin to a human.

"Anything interesting about our new friend?" June asked in a cute voice.

"Other than the fact that you can't stop staring at him? Well…he's remarkably human-like," Kiko said. "And I mean, he has the same skeletal structure, his bones and his muscles are all very similar to ours."

"What are the odds of an extraterrestrial life form looking just like a human on a completely different planet?" June said.

"Ten years ago, I would have said that it wasn't possible. But ever since that portal opened over New York last year, I'm not sure," Kiko said.

June dug around the stranger's bag, finding very strange devices. She carefully put each one on the desk nearby, not wanting to risk that they go off and end up killing her or Kiko or the stranger. One particular device, actually weapon, caught her attention. It looked like an ornate bow with an arrow-like pointer at its end, and a grip on the left side right before the weapon's end. There was also a goggle-like device attached to it.

As Kiko and June examined everything, the stranger began to awaken, though they were too distracted to realize it until they heard the restraint break. The stranger fell from the bed.

Once she got over the initial surprise of how easily he broke free from the restraint, June said, "Take it easy, we're not gonna hurt you." When she attempted to kneel in front of him to help him, he responded with a push that sent her flying into the back wall. Not enough to hurt her, thankfully.

The disoriented stranger attempted to run out of the room, only for Kiko to catch up with him. The two engaged in a one-sided fight, with the stranger trying to get the drop on Kiko. June helped, strengthening Kiko to the point where she could physically restrain the superhumanly strong stranger.

"Calm down, calm down," June said tenderly. "We're not going to hurt you."

The golden-eyed stranger calmed down and stopped resisting Kiko's grip.

"You can understand me?" June said.

"Yes," said the stranger. "I'm on Earth, right? This isn't my first time here."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Yon-Rogg."

"I'm June. This is my friend, Kiko," June said. "Where do you come from?"

"Hala. Capital world of the Kree empire." After a few seconds, he quickly realized that these women had no idea what he was referring to. "The Kree are my people, and a part of a powerful empire across the galaxy. Except, I very recently learned that my people are as cold as the vacuum of space, even to its own citizens."

"I would ask what you mean, but I'm not interested in overwhelming myself again," June said, sitting down. At June's visual gesture, Kiko let go of Yon-Rogg, though she refused to let her guard down.

"_Be wary of this individual. Technology in this world cannot harm me, but his weaponry just might be enough to stun me."_

"How did you heal me? My injuries were fatal, and this world doesn't have technology advanced enough to save me," Yon-Rogg inquired. June answered his question by manifesting milky light from her hands. "So, you're a sorceress. I've never seen sorcery in this form before."

"_Sorcery can be a trained skill. Anybody can learn it. However, the magic manifestation is different for learned sorcerers than with me."_

"I'm not a learned sorceress, I was granted these abilities. Very recently," June said.

"Thank you. Both of you. I'm lucky to have found you."

"I don't think so," Kiko said. "You couldn't have picked a worse time or place or people."

"Yeah. The reason I have powers is also the reason were in the basement of a derelict house," June said. The reason that she had powers left her body and manifested silently right next to Yon-Rogg, startling him.

"Whoa!" he interjected.

"_I am Enchantress. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."_ The witch reached out a helping hand out to Yon-Rogg, a hand that he hesitantly accepted. She shook his hand with noticeable strength.

"Wow, you have a lot of strength in those lanky arms of yours," Yon-Rogg commented.

"_My dear, you have not seen my true strength. I am still weak, regaining my strength."_

"Wait… are you and June related?" Yon-Rogg asked.

"_We are not siblings. I predate her birth by over 6,000 years. I have no true form, I gain the likeness of whomever I call my home. June found me sealed in my tomb and freed me. The group that sealed me away has been hunting us ever since."_

Yon-Rogg quietly put all the pieces of the puzzle together, that they were in hiding from this group. "Perhaps I could help you fight them."

"Okay. First, we don't know each other. Second, even if we did, you're far too weak to be of any use," Kiko said sharply.

"Okay, wait just a second," June said to Kiko. "No. We don't know each other. But we can't just jump to the darkest conclusion about one another. We should at least take the time to know one another better."

* * *

Enchantress left June's body to protect the safe house for the night. There were cameras everywhere, but it was more efficient for the witch to keep watch on her own for the night. Unlike the others, she didn't require sleep. Ever since the night Ava attacked and nearly had them on the ropes, Enchantress has had her senses in perpetual overdrive.

She felt Yon-Rogg awaken from his bed in the main cabin and walk out of the building before midnight. The witch teleported in front of him.

"_Why are you here? You should be down hiding."_

"Can't sleep, and I don't like being trapped in a small set of rooms."

"_How are you feeling?"_

"Much better. June has got quite a nice powerset."

"_She is not the first prodigal healer I've come across. I have had many healers and supporters in my time. But I assume you're not here for small talk, something for which I have little patience, unless it's with June."_</em>

"I know better than to waste a dark sorceress's time." He internally panicked when he realized that he misspoke and upon seeing Enchantress's enraged expression and a clenched fist. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is that it's obvious you're not as soft as June is."

"_Smart conclusion."_

"Has she…has she seen it yet?"

"_No. My one battle in our as-of-yet brief tenure together, I lost swiftly. I'm stronger now than I was then, but she has no idea how much it pains and angers me to lose a battle. All I want is to have another battle to redeem myself." _The witch's deep booming voice echoed with unbridled bloodlust. "_I suppress it in June's presence. As of now, she only knows that I am a combatant, not that I seek to spill blood."_

"I can tell. I have been alive for a while myself. Not as long as you, but enough to recognize when someone wants to have a fight."

"_Are you offering yourself to spar with me?"_

"An old friend used to do it with me to alleviate stress. You and she aren't so different."

"_How so?"_

"Powerful and free. Unchained, unsuppressed, and fierce. And capable of killing instantly."

Enchantress smiled at his compliment. She held her palm in front of him, beckoning him to punch her hand and test his strength. Impressed with his natural Kree strength and satisfied that he was of combat-worthy strength, Enchantress summoned two mystical sabers, giving one to a confused Yon-Rogg.

"_Do you not know how to wield a sword?"_

"I prefer a broadsword," Yon-Rogg said. His sword shifted forms into a broadsword appropriately sized for him. Given the notable size difference between her saber and his broadsword, she summoned another one for herself.

"_Don't worry. The swords won't harm either of us," _Enchantress said playfully. Yon-Rogg smiled and held his broadsword in his right hand. The witch crossed her blades in front of her face, before adopting a feral crouch pose, animalistic in appearance.

She leapt forward crossing her blades and swiping downwards towards Yon-Rogg's body. He locked his broadsword with her sabers, deadlocking them together. Enchantress lowered one saber to let his blade slide down. She deflected his sword away and elbowed him in the back with a pow.

"_You doubt yourself, warrior."_

"I'm just out of practice," Yon-Rogg claimed to Enchantress's humor.

First swing. Second swing. Third swing. Fourth swing. All by Yon-Rogg.

The first swing was easily avoided, the broadsword cutting nothing but the air around the witch. The second and third were deflected off of her sabers. The final swing, a powerful backswing she caught in a blade lock.

She realized too late that it was a feign move, Yon-Rogg struck her with a forceful blow to her ribcage. Much to the witch's surprise, the Kree warrior's strength was enough to briefly knock the wind from her.

"_Perhaps I _was_ wrong about you." _Her sabers and his broadsword vanished.

"What are you doing?"

"_I chose blades because I thought you were still recovering, still weak. I was wrong. You are strong enough to handle yourself in close combat."_

"Then let's dance," Yon-Rogg said with a brazen smile.

The two warriors sparred with one another in a friendly manner, none the wiser to a smiling June having been watching them since the start of their fight.


	5. Chapter 5

"Tell me. Have you taken care of that witch?" Alexander Pierce, head of S.H.I.E.L.D. And a highly prominent leader of HYDRA. He conversed with Moore through a radio.

"We know where she is, Pierce. We're going after her tonight. We'll get her this time, because we're ready."

"How'd you find her?" Pierce asked.

"A spacecraft crashed in Maine a few days ago, something I'm sure you're aware of. We found fingerprints on the craft. Both prints matched the prints we found in Dr. Moone's apartment. There's a small derelict cabin near the crash site. It looks like no one's been there for years, perfect place to hide. Really, I should say that your people found them, and we just took the results."

"Excellent," Pierce said with a small smile. "You would have been an incredible S.H.I.E.L.D. sleeper agent."

"Yeah, I'm not good with perpetual lying," Moore said with a small smile. "Just tell me that Cap isn't anywhere near here."

"He's dead. We tracked him to Camp Lehigh in New Jersey, we bombed it all to hell. He won't be a problem for us anymore."

"Good. One less prick on our backs. Oh, and before I forget, the grass around the ship had inhuman blood on it. We think that the women took the occupant of the spacecraft with them. I imagine we might find an injured alien with them. Maybe a dead one," Moore quipped.

"Well, what are you waiting around for? Go get them," Pierce ordered. "But make sure you take her alive. We could definitely use her to our advantage."

"How are you planning on doing that?" Moore asked.

"The scepter. Don't you remember that it can brainwash anyone it touches?" The councilman's voice was nothing shot of annoyed and condescending. He had little time to suffer any fools with a bad sense of memory.

"Fine. When we get her, I'll take her somewhere she can't escape. I'll send you the coordinates and you can order the scepter's arrival."

"Hail HYDRA," Pierce whispered.

"Hail HYDRA."

Moore left his office and met with a squadron of 150 of his men, some equipped with weaponry born of the Tesseract and the Scepter, weaponry powerful enough to harm Enchantress. Ava, unaware of who was working for, was in front of them.

* * *

June watched in awe as Enchantress and Yon-Rogg sparred in a friendly manner. Between acrobatic flips and punches, the witch would sometimes playfully strike him with ranged magic, much to his annoyance.

Watching them talk and spar, she began to believe that Yon-Rogg was in fact a decent person and a potential ally, maybe a friend. She found the idea appealing. It would be nice to have someone else around other than just another woman and a supernatural ancient witch.

"You are not the first woman to do that to me," he claimed. June wondered who the first woman was. She'd ask him the next day. Hopefully it would also be an opportunity for her and the others to see if he were a trustworthy individual.

A few minutes later, Kiko walked into the room. Kiko was just about to ask why June was awake when she saw the playful brawl outside. She sat with June to admire the pair's combat ability. Kiko knew fully just how and why friendly spars mattered. Friendly spars were preparation for real life ones.

The two young women watched as the witch regularly emerged victorious over Yon-Rogg. The Kree soldier expressed surprise that her narrow and not-so-muscular body exerted such great strength and skill. The witch combined agility, strength, and thousands of years of pure honed talent to the fight. No less than five times, she threw him to the ground, held him in a chokehold, or had him in a fatally vulnerable position.

The Kree himself was no pushover. The witch had to put in effort to do this to him. While he was weaker than Enchantress, he had something else on her: a different fighting style. She was completely unfamiliar with Yon-Rogg's fighting style. It gave him an advantage that he could catch her off guard with techniques that she didn't know about.

The witch abruptly ended the fight and stared blankly into the woods, much to June, Kiko, and Yon-Rogg's shared surprise.

"_They're here."_

"Who is?" Yon-Rogg was oblivious, the one thing Kree didn't have was powerful senses. Ironic, considering that they have increased strength and durability.

"_The ones who imprisoned me. Go inside. Prepare yourself for a fight."_

Yon-Rogg hesitatingly entered the safehouse, unsure of what was going on. The witch summoned another blade, this time a long ornately designed curvy dagger. Enchantress also quickly reclaimed June, letting her back into her body for protection.

She stood outside, silently daring her enemies to come at her. Out of the safe house came Kiko armed with Soultaker and Yon-Rogg armed with his Kree pistol and magnitron gauntlets, devices capable of manipulating gravitational and magnetic fields, useful for offensive and defensive purposes.

Kiko and Yon-Rogg went around opposite sides of the safehouse, ready for a fight.

A powerful energy shot went straight at Kiko. She gracefully dodged the shot and charged forward towards its source. More and more shots fired at her, leaving gaping holes in the safehouse wall behind her. She met with a squadron of over fifteen HYDRA agents.

Slice. Stab. Cut. Slash. One swing after another, and every agent in the squadron fell like dead birds. The first cut open a man from groin to sternum, spilling out his stomach and intestines all over the ground. The stab impaled a man through the neck, briefly leaving him gasping and grasping the sword until he succumbed. The third strike cut all the agents around her in an elegant twirl, amputating them at the waist, leaving only a single agent. She was kind enough to simply slash off his head, no fuss.

Yon-Rogg shielded himself from the energy shots with the magnitron gauntlets. He waited for each agent to emerge from the dark tree line, and then he laid down a succession of lethal shots against the enemy. One. Two. Three. Four. Five shots. Each shot fired was another agent dead, holes in their torsos or limbs blown clean off.

He switched to his gauntlets once his Kree pistol was dry of energy. He threw four agents into the trees, impaling one of them through the neck on a thick tree branch. The other three fell to the ground, dead or paralyzed on impact. Their armor did little to shield them from the natural effects of gravity. The last agent stared at Yon-Rogg in utter horror, so much horror that he dropped his weapon and held his hands above his head. The Kree soldier's response?

He ripped off the guy's mask and lifted him by his neck.

"Leave. Right now. Don't ever come back. Don't ever return. Because if you stay, you will die, and it will not be quick or painless. Grunt if you understand." The Kree dropped any pretense of being a nice guy, his voice was deep and venomous and booming.

The hapless man meekly whimpered. The Kree dropped him and let him run off.

Enchantress twirled her sword slightly before teleporting straight into a crowd of more than twenty agents. All of them attempted to shoot her, to absolutely no avail. She dodged and deflected every shot they fired, and one by one cut open their throats, ripped off their limbs, fried them with her fire magic, or burst their hearts with electrical magic. A slice would be followed by a burst of electricity or fire, and then with kicks. She continued until every single foolish agent was dead on the ground around her.

Knowing that June would have been traumatized by witnessing this, she made sure that June's consciousness within her was completely unaware of what she did.

And then the witch's nemesis made her appearance. Ava Starr, in all her glory in her light gray ominous suit, fluctuating images of herself appearing around her in random intervals. The two warriors faced each other down. The witch was ready for a rematch, the ghost was ready to win again.

Enchantress launched Ava back with a powerful lightning blast. She teleported right behind her and kicked her into a tree.

"_I thought you were stronger than this," _Enchantress taunted.

Ava answered her taunt with a forceful kick to the witch's leg. Another kick struck her squarely in the head.

A stunned Enchantress recovered and smiled at Ava's strength.

"_Forgive me for insulting you."_

"You're forgiven."

The two women sparred violently, kicks punctuating punches. Blood spilled from Ava's lips and bruises filled her skin. Injuries never appeared on the witch's pale skin, but the impacts from Ava's phasing-enhanced strikes stunned and paralyzed her time and time again.

Ava kicked the witch into a tree. She teleported away before she could hit the ground. She teleported right in front of the ghost, and telekinetically threw her with the force of an explosion against another tree.

"_I will make sure you do not suffer in death."_

The witch telekinetically held her down and conjures a long dagger. She held it above her head, ready to commit the fatal strike. However, upon seeing Ava show no visible fear, even with the mask on, the witch hesitated.

In the next instant, a bright blue glow radiated into the area, a bright blue similar to what Cherenkov radiation that you find in a nuclear fission reactor. The ashen witch screamed animalistically in intense pain.

With the bright blue glow came a unique effect. The witch was being sucked into something, her skin stretching and ripping apart, her hair ripping out pieces of her scalp. As her body broke down, June was slowly ripped out from within her. Within seconds, the witch was gone, and only June remains, still holding the blade that the witch conjured.

June was depowered. The witch had been taken from her. She collapsed to the ground on her knees, exhausted. The witch kept her unaware of the world around her, and as a result, she had no idea what exactly happened.

She turned around to find Agent Moore holding a glowing blue jar in one hand, and a powerful magnum gun in his other hand. Many more agents emerged from the trees, encircling the three.

"Drop it." His voice dripped with pure hatred for the 20-year-old girl on her knees. The frightful June did as she was told. Moore walked towards his victim and knocked her unconscious with a single strike to her head.

Nearby, Yon-Rogg held Kiko back from recklessly going in to save her best friend.

"Kiko, there's nothing we can do," he claimed.

"I can't leave her to those animals."

"And we won't. But getting ourselves captured will do us no good."

Kiko stilled in Yon-Rogg's arms. She tearfully glanced at her best friend, who was being carried away by Moore and other subordinates. She and the Kree soldier were forced to flee from the area. It was their only chance if they were ever going to find out where they were going to take her.

They both knew there had to be a reason why they took June alive rather than just killed her. But the question was: why?

* * *

June awakened in a dark room. Her arms and legs were completely bound. But even if she could move, she wouldn't, because she literally could see nothing. Everything around her was a blinding darkness. For a second, June thought that her captors had somehow robbed her of her sight.

A bright light in the center of the room turned on, a sight-restoring flash. For a few seconds, she shook her head until she could see again. When she could see, she saw a figure standing near her, dressed all in black.

"Who are you?" June fearfully asked. The man stepped into the light and pulled up a chair of his own. Moore was like the Hulk compared to Black Widow in the Avengers group. Even though she was sitting, this man towered over her by at least seven inches and arms as thick as June's thighs. He had the deep booming voice to match.

"Michael Moore. And you're June Moone. Born August 12, 1994, in London, England. Graduated with a master's degree at age 18 in Mesoamerican Studies. Age 19, you took a break from your studies for fear that you had schizophrenia. Never recovered." He looked at the file he was reading from with boredom, like he had done this many times.

"Where are you going with this?" June's voice grew shakier and shakier with each word she uttered.

"Nowhere. That's just to let you know that we know everything about you. We know you better than you know yourself." Moore's smug voice was well-justified, at least to June. "You should know that you're the only one who ever got out of that hole in the temple."

"I didn't think those skeletons at the bottom were for show." Moore maliciously smiled. "Were you the one who cut my rope?"

"You're good."

"Why am I still alive?"

"Been asking myself that same question, sweetheart. The truth is, you're alive because my bosses think you're useful to them."

"But you don't?" June said.

"No. If it were up to me, you would have a bullet hole in your brain. And that little bitch of a witch would be back in her cave where she belongs." Moore's voice dripped with such anger and rage, to the point where June wondered if some motivation for that was because of all the men Enchantress killed.

"But," he continued, "my bosses want you alive. And so here we are."

"Where exactly is here?" June said. "And how long ago was the raid?"

"Yesterday. And we… are somewhere you can never hope to escape." Moore subsequently left the room, and walked into a surveillance room that had several monitors, examining her with night vision from all angles.

"Blind her," Moore commands. The singular light in the room shut off, leaving the girl in complete darkness. "Under no circumstances is she to be released from those binds. Let her piss and shit on herself, I don't care. She. Can't. Escape. Understand."

The meek technicians in room obediently nodded their heads.

"I'm heading out. Gonna check on the lab, see if they're finished with that weapon to contain the witch again. I'll be back in an hour. Kaidonovsky will keep an eye on things while I'm gone. Shit starts going wrong, contact him."

As he left the building, Agent Kaidonovsky, a Russian guy who had been with Moore for a long time, stood nearby. They silently nodded their heads at one another. The guy never spoke much, but he was as loyal as a dog.

Back in June's prison room, the imprisoned girl looked around fearfully. She was coming down from her adrenaline surge and was left feeling numb and sick and exhausted. She sat in that prison for what felt like forever, surrounded by deafening silence and a bright darkness.

"_Whatever you do, do not speak."_

June was barely able to resist the urge to speak and scream in relief.

"_Listen to me. I have enough influence in the physical world to disable the electronics in this building, and to free you from your binds. But it will not last. You have to get out as fast as possible. I will guide you. When I count down from five, the cameras will be disabled, and there will be a light that only you can see that will lead you to an exit."_

June held the chains around her as hard as she could.

"_Five."_

Her heart rate skyrocketed.

"_Four."_

Her muscles tensed and readied themselves to run.

"_Three."_

June stopped hyperventilating.

"_Two."_

She held her eyes shut.

"_One."_

The monitors around the control room deactivated. Every light in the building deactivated. Even the devices that the mercenaries had with them, such as night vision, laser sight, and everything else was disabled instantly and simultaneously.

The chains that surrounded June's body shattered into nothing. The environment around her suddenly became clear, outlined in an electric white color. A ball of electricity manifested in front of her.

June stood up and ran after the ball, following it down every turn, down the stairs. As she ran, the light illuminated a flashlight. On instinct, she took it with her. She ran and ran until she finally escaped from the building, into a night sky, illuminated only by the stars. The bolt ball led her into the trees, where it settled into a cave about half a mile away from the building she escaped from.

The exhausted girl had no water, nothing to help herself survive in the wilderness. She didn't have much in the way of actual survival skills. She always had matches, water bottles, filters, and food on her. Now, she had to survive with no equipment, and only had her nonexistent skills to get her by.

But of course, Enchantress accounted for this. The cave had a fresh water stream in it. Parasites, diseases, no matter, it was still water. She gulped down as much water as her stomach could take, hoping that she wouldn't get sick from it.

"_Do not fear. This water is clean. Moss grows in it. Moss is a natural water filter."_

June stomach sinks in relief.

"_But we have a bigger problem that we need to discuss, and we have no time."_

"What is it?"

"_The containment unit they forced me into, it is not an appropriate container. Nor is the stronger one they are developing."_

"What do you mean?"

"_The container that you broke in that cavern, it was designed to not only contain me, but contain the vast majority of my powers, and simulate a living person's body. It meant that I could never leave the doll, but also meant that my powers would remain in check."_

"So what's wrong with the one they have you in?"

"_It does not simulate a person. It carries the power of one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe, an infinity stone. However, my powers, when released to maximum potential, can overwhelm an infinity stone's power."_

"I still don't understand."

"_If I do not possess a living person, or if my container does not simulate a person, my sanity rapidly degrades. Consequently, my powers grow out of control. When I am without you for 24 hours, a storm will manifest, centered directly over my location. We were captured 14 hours ago. Once the storm manifests, it will spread until it consumes this world in mystical lightning, ice, fire, and earthquakes."_

"Where are you right now?"

"_I am unable to show you my location. I had to use all of my focus and concentration to free you from that facility. I have none left to show you where I am. You have to wait until the storm begins."_

"How long will I have after the storm to find you?"

"_Less than 24 hours before the storm begins tearing apart the world."_

"That's just great."

"_I cannot…keep…this up…I am…losing my strength…I will…not…be…able to help you…after this. Forgive me…"_

The witch's voice grew weaker and dimmer, until it disappeared completely. June realized two things: she no longer had abilities, and she was on her own. Utterly alone, against what? An army?

No matter. She couldn't stay there. June left the cave, going off to seek shelter elsewhere. This place was too close to the compound. Unfortunately, she didn't do this in time. A brigade of men led by Kaidonovsky went out in search of her, combing through the forest.

"Look. She went through here. She's blind out here, she can't see anything."

They were right. She couldn't see anything, not now. However, she couldn't turn her flashlight on either, because that would let those men know exactly where she was.

She quietly moved around, avoiding branches twigs and leaves. She tried to avoid leaving any signs of a trail. This only served to slow down the men following her, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't avoid leaving signs of a trail. The men slowly but surely came closer and closer to finding the hapless girl.

Eventually, June came upon a river, far larger and more torrential than the one in the cave. It ended at a waterfall. She couldn't see how high it was. Maybe shallow, maybe deep. She could either escape or die from the impact against the water.

"Here! She's over here!"

The men had caught up with her.

She had no choice. She jumped into the water and went over the waterfall.


	6. Chapter 6

Ava Starr gazed upon her television set in utter horror. Just now, the news was playing a recording of Avenger Natasha Romanoff's testimony about S.H.I.E.L.D., and how HYDRA had overtaken them. Apparently, she and Captain America discovered this, and they fought to stop HYDRA before it could trap the world in an iron grip, causing three helicarriers to fall over D.C.

This whole time, she wasn't helping S.H.I.E.L.D. She was helping _HYDRA._ All these years she spent, killing, spying, stealing, sacrificing her soul so that they could cure her of her perpetually painful condition.

All those people…were they really innocent people? Were they the monsters that the higher-ups told her they were?

"Oh God…June…" Ava realized that June and Enchantress were likely not the monsters that Moore made them out to be. After all, Enchantress had an opportunity to kill Ava, but didn't.

It was too late for her to make amends for all those she murdered under…HYDRA's command. But…maybe she could start by helping to save June before it was too late.

* * *

"So you're saying that we have no way to find her?"

Kiko paced around the room, her Soultaker in hand. She angrily cut up some of the walls and furniture after losing June to the thugs that lay siege to them. The safehouse was left in disarray.

Yon-Rogg stands up. "I can infuse my technology with yours to create something more powerful, something that can go across entire galaxies. But it won't make a difference if she doesn't have something to receive it."

"Well, fuck… What do we do now?"

"Nothing."

Who said that? Yon-Rogg didn't say anything, neither did Kiko.

Ten feet away from the pair, Ava made herself visible. No mask, no suit. Just her.

"What are you doing here?" Kiko venomously glared at Ghost, drawing her sword. Yon-Rogg readied his gauntlets to fight back against the formidable woman.

"I'm not here to fight you," Ava said, raising her arms.

"You seriously expect us to believe that? You who helped to abduct our friend?" Yon-Rogg jabs.

"You have no reason to trust me, I'm well aware. But I'm trying to make amends." Ava kept herself from phasing out of control too much, trying to avoid unnerving the Kree and the Japanese swordswoman.

"What reason do you have for trying to make amends?" Kiko said.

"Because I realized earlier today that I'm fighting on the wrong side of the conflict."

Kiko and Yon-Rogg glanced at one another. They silently glanced back at Ava expectantly.

"Are you aware of a group named HYDRA?"

Kiko nodded.

"Yesterday, files from the intelligence organization I work for, S.H.I.E.L.D., had many of their files leaked onto the internet. I thought that I was fighting for S.H.I.E.L.D. and for the greater good."

"But," Yon-Rogg anticipated.

"But… The files, and two of the Avengers revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by HYDRA. I thought I was fighting the good fight, but I've been fighting alongside the monsters all along."

Kiko believed her without a second thought. The voice of her late husband spoke from within the sword she wielded, telling her that Ava was telling the truth. Yon-Rogg remained wary of Ava, but acquiesced, trusting Kiko's judgement.

Ava lowered her hands. "You believe me?"

"I do," Kiko responded.

"I don't know exactly where she is, and the leaked files don't say anything about Dr. Moone. But I think I know where we _can_ go."

"Kiko, we can't trust her. She was a part of all of this," Yon-Rogg insisted. "She could be luring us into a trap."

Ava retorted, "Don't you think that if I wanted to kill you or do anything to you, I wouldn't have given myself away?"

"False flag," Yon-Rogg says. "Classic move to make others believe whatever you want them to."

"Please," Ava begged. "I'm not lying. June is alive, but I don't where they're keeping her."

Kiko said, "But you said that you know where we can go?"

Yon-Rogg looked at Kiko, completely stupefied. "I understand your desire to believe in finding June, but this is absurd."

Kiko approached Ava. Suddenly, she grabbed the ghostly girl and tossed her to the ground, brandishing her mystical sword against her throat.

"We'll come with you. But if you try anything, you won't have to pretend to be a ghost."

* * *

Ava, now donning her suit, brought the pair to the building where she went with Moore, right before the heist where Ava lost her rematch against Enchantress, and where Moore had to save her life. Where she thought she was plotting alongside allies to make the world safer, where all she did was make it easier for the monsters of the world to take it over.

The trio examined the facility.

"You're not going in there yourself," Kiko decreed.

"But you will need me. I know my way around the facility," Ava reminded them.

Yon-Rogg glares viciously at Ava. He wanted her to try something so badly, just so that he could have an excuse to fight and beat her in combat. So that he could kill her.

"I know." Kiko didn't divert her attention from the facility. "But we follow my lead."

Ava went left, Kiko went right, and Yon-Rogg stayed in place. The women emerged from the woods out of immediate eyeshot of the guards. Kiko dressed to camouflage into the woodlands, while Ava turned invisible and Yon-Rogg hid behind a tree.

Kiko threw a knife into the throat in the throat of the guard in the watchtower. Yon-Rogg sniped the other one. Together, the women snuck up on the guards wandering the courtyard. Ava killed the one on the right with a fatally strong roundhouse kick, and Kiko beheaded the other one with Soultaker.

Inside the facility, Ava scouted ahead, against the wishes of the other two to kill the men in the surveillance room. When she comes back, the other two glared at her like she betrayed them.

"I just made sure that nobody will sound the alarm," Ava stated, pointing to a camera. They relented a little bit.

The trio worked their way through the facility, killing everyone in their path. No one who encountered the trio survived. One of the doors led to another surveillance room, except this one was about surveilling the world.

It was empty, and full of various electronic files.

"I got this."

Yon-Rogg stepped forward and plugged his own device on his suit into the computer. The plug shifted forms so that it would fit within the USB port in the computer. It instantly downloaded everything that the computers had, from the camera records to the personnel files.

"This is everything."

Yon-Rogg projected a large hologram from his wrist piece.

"What should I search for?"

"Cross reference everything involving the words 'June' and 'transfer'," Ava told him. "If that doesn't work, search anything related to 'Moore'."

For about ten minutes, Yon-Rogg's AI in the suit searches all the files for anything that fits any of the three criteria. It eliminates hundreds of files and recordings that don't have any of those criteria in them. It still leaves far too many to manually sift through.

Kiko suggested, "Try eliminating anything that details personal information, and surveillance locations. That should eliminate anything they used to track her."

The holographic files narrowed themselves down. It left it at roughly a quarter of the files, but it still was far in excess of 500 files.

"Eliminate any files that are dated more than seven days ago," Ava said. "I remember that all of this was set in motion the day after June freed the witch from the Peruvian cave."

10 files remained.

Yon-Rogg smiled and nodded. "We can work with this. It should take no more than ten minutes to sift through every fragment of data in this pile. My gauntlet is an artificial intelligence. It will sift through it for us and decipher what we need."

* * *

Kiko paced around the room as Yon-Rogg's gauntlet sifted through the files. She paced to keep herself awake. She also moved at a strict rhythm. Doing so always helped her to concentrate. To think in a pattern meant to think clearly. To think in a jagged manner meant to think with clouded judgement.

A maskless Ava sat apart from the others, brooding alone. She did her normal mental ritual to try and soothe the pain of her condition.

Yon-Rogg sat at the table in the room, examining his technology. He also searched the Internet. He found the technology to be primitive, but nonetheless a step in the right direction towards a more galactic civilization. He looked through all of the files that were leaked from S.H.I.E.L.D.

He was taken aback by how violent and gruesome this world was. Most young worlds like Earth were more peaceful worlds. But this world never found anything to unite for. So much chaos and destruction. Figures like the Avengers provided some relief and hope, but there were so many others that only added to the misery.

Nazis. Al Qaeda. Taliban. Ku Klux Klan.

So many groups on such a young world. This world was like a house that was built while set on fire. Nothing but destruction from the ground up.

To give her legs some rest, Kiko sat down next to Yon-Rogg. She took out a picture, a very special one from her breast pocket. It was a picture from four years ago. Of her husband Maseo and June. A special night they all spent together.

It was quite a mundane night compared to the standard of a special night. No, it wasn't a visit to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Not to the Leaning Tower in Pisa. Not to the Colosseum in Rome. Nope. This was a picture of them at the theater.

"What is that?" Yon-Rogg asked.

Kiko showed him the photograph. "My husband and June and me."

Yon-Rogg smiled at the picture.

Kiko explained everything about that day. It was a night they all went to the theaters, right after she and her husband got married. They went to see _The Book of Eli_. The way they chose the movie was just so random, because Kiko and June wanted to see something else, but her husband wanted to see that movie.

They decided by a game of rock-paper-scissors, which Maseo somehow miraculously won.

She also explained why she valued the picture so much. It was the last moment she had with him before he died. Or more accurately, murdered. By her brother-in-law Takeo, who joined the Yakuza. He murdered Maseo for the petty reason that Kiko chose Maseo over him.

Kiko woke up in time to find Takeo murdering Maseo with the very weapon that she herself now wielded. The Soultaker. The weapon that trapped the souls of its victim. She caught him off guard and killed him, though not with Soultaker. With her house aflame and her husband, she did the only thing she could do, escape.

She went back to her home country of Japan, where she trained under a fierce master named Tadashi. She spent over two years under his tutelage, until she was better than even him. It was then that she went on a personal odyssey across the world, starting in Japan.

She hunted down the Yakuza clan that raised her brother-in-law to become a vengeful murderer. She went up against an entire army of men armed with swords and firearms and every weapon under the sun. Kiko, a lone swordswoman, emerged victorious every time. She wiped out all of that cell of the Yakuza clan.

Surviving clans came to call Akiko Yamashiro "Death Blade". The honorary title spread across the world as she continued her self-given mission to wipe out cartels and various criminal organizations across the world. All while armed with nothing more than her mystical sword, and the voice of her husband to guide her. Over the last two and half years, Kiko had wiped well over ten crime families in several different countries.

Kiko always had to keep a low profile and change her appearance, disguise herself. But not for the reason most people would default to. She had to hide because the moment a crime group noticed her presence, they would flee, and make her mission difficult.

The reason she was in New York was to deal with another crime family that settled there, but June ran into her, and thus brought her into contact with HYDRA. This time, she had a global enemy to face.

Yon-Rogg and Ava were so heavily moved by the story that they could do nothing. They couldn't even breathe or blink for a few moments. This lone woman has made it her mission to single-handedly eliminate crime families across the world. All for revenge for her fallen husband.

"You must have truly loved him," Ava commented softly.

"He was my other half. We were connected on a deeper level. I can't say that it was just love, it was more than that. It was like we…shared a piece of each other's hearts. June doesn't know anything about this, doesn't know about this part of my life. If she did, I don't think she'd ever look at me the same way. And…I don't want to lose that look, because…it reminds me of that time. The first time I saw her in New York, a few days ago, I remembered a time when I was Akiko Yamashiro, not The Death Blade."

Yon-Rogg and Ava could only look on at the warrior. Warrior. That was all that they thought of her. It was so easy to look at her as a just a stoic swordswoman. They'd forgotten about the "woman" part of that. The vulnerable part that formed relationships and memories and bonds.

She was still a woman, with a story, and a reason why she became a swordswoman, feared and dreaded by the criminal underworld. A wife who became a warrior. A friend who disappeared and came back abruptly.

"Why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. ever try to recruit you?" Ava asked. "A woman like you would be a prime candidate for an Avenger."

"They tried. They tried to find me. The thing is, I let them find out who I am. I let them know everything. The problem was in _finding _me. Classic game of cat-and-mouse that I always won."

"Impressive. Hiding from S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't an easy task," Ava said. "Normally, when they want something, they get it."

"You know, Ava, I've been meaning to ask you. You said you were working for S.H.I.E.L.D. How did you end up on their radar?" Kiko asked.

Ava looked away silently. Kiko didn't prod further.

Today was a good day for them. Made all the better because they now had a little bit of trust in Ava. Even if she didn't answer one simple question, they still learned a lot about her. What could've been an ambush wasn't. All the opportunities for betrayal were never taken. All chances to kill them before they could react were passed over. Ava Starr was a good woman. Kiko wondered if they could become permanent allies in the long run. If not as partners in action, then as simply reliable acquaintances. People to look to when in a significant pinch.

Yon-Rogg already was becoming this. June had been one all Kiko's life.

Ava…maybe she'd become one too.

But there was one thing that Kiko couldn't believe she just did. She just up and opened up about a part of herself to one basic stranger and one actual stranger. Something she never even told her best friend.

_What kind of person does that make me? _Kiko thought.

"We have something," Yon-Rogg announced.

The display morphed into a surveillance video. The surveillance didn't have any audio itself, but the machine was able to read the lips. It was Agent Moore talking with one of the lower-ranked agents. The lip reader mentioned something called the Dragon's Triangle.

The display shifted forms, into a more tradition file. It was a file detailing the transferral of subject M00N3. Moone.

It mentioned a set of coordinates for an island where the subject will be transferred until a full study could be completed on the subject, at which point re-education procedures would begin.

"Re-education?" Kiko muttered. "Another word for brainwashing."

"Dragon's Triangle? What is that?" Ava said.

"You're aware of the Bermuda Triangle, no? It's the Pacific Ocean's answer to that. It's an area of the ocean just south of Tokyo. Same mythology.."

In the meantime, Yon-Rogg who had no clue what the women were talking about looked through the internet to learn about the Dragon and Bermuda Triangles. He found the mythology of the regions interesting, even if they had no real logical reason to be considered so special.

A geographic display of the planet appeared, and centered on the coordinates listed on the files. The location was in the middle of the ocean. There were no islands charred in this region of the world. A perfect place to hide someone, because if no one knows an island exists, no one other than the few who know about it can find you.

"There you are June. We're coming to get you."


	7. Chapter 7

Fingers clenched into the mud beneath wet hands. Half a nostril was beneath water. One eye couldn't open. The moment she moved, pain shot through her body. Her body felt like it was being crushed by cement. How was June alive after falling down a _waterfall_? She painfully stood up.

In the distance, the sun rose into the sky. The early morning sun, raining life down onto the injured girl. Her other eye was exposed and opened to the blinding light of the sun. Regaining some energy, June found it within her to stand. It took all of her energy, but she did it.

She looked back at the water. The falls behind her was far smaller than it seemed from last night. However, the impact and subsequent thrashing in the water made it exhausting to swim to the surface. Swimming to shore was just as tiring, so much so that she couldn't even move after she got to the shoreline.

She sat against a tree and looked to the sky. There was already evidence that whatever cataclysm Enchantress was talking about was already beginning. Dark ominous clouds loomed overhead, unnatural ones.

They looked dark, with a circular collection in the center.

"Of course, the storm looks like it's right out of a movie."

The weakened June stayed in the immediate area, using the river for water. It probably wasn't even safe to drink, even though it looked clear. She drank the water, hoping that she wouldn't contract a waterborne infection. Survival skills weren't something she learned in school at all.

"Hello." The voice was accompanied with the distinct click of a gun.

"Please…don't hurt me…"

"Turn around, put your hands behind your head."

The man was dressed in black with an exposed face, covered in armor. There was a bizarre emblem on his armor, something that looked like a skull with kraken-like tentacles. He swiftly wrapped her wrists in what felt like climbing rope.

"Boss. I've got the target. Heading back to base."

"Excellent work," Moore said over the walkie.

The man dragged June for several minutes. She didn't stop resisting the grip of this man. He dragged her by the hair forward. He eventually became so frustrated with June's continued resistance that he snapped.

He threw her against a tree and hulked over her. He silently threatened her with bared teeth, a finger in her face, and a hand against her neck, crushing her throat. The finger in her face. Now was the only opportunity she would ever get to fight back.

She hurled her mouth and teeth at his finger, exposed through the fingerless gloves. She bit hard, so hard that the skin broke and bones were squeezed from the horrifyingly powerful force of June's bite. The man reached for his gun, but June let go of his bitten hand and body slammed him to the ground, sending the gun careening away.

Through burned and flayed skin, June ripped her hands free from her rope binds. She dove after the gun and got to it first. She rolled to face the man assaulting her at the same time he dove after her to wrestle the gun from her.

Their hands locked on the gun. His stronger and trained arms rapidly overpowered her arms, successfully accomplishing the task. Milliseconds passed and the gun went off. Several times at once, almost nonstop.

June realized that her time had been cut short. A pain in her stomach, a dull pain, perhaps her body didn't want her to suffer in utter agony at the end of it all.

Everything she wanted to do, everything she wanted to be flashed before her. The mother that she grew up with. The best friend she lost for a few years who came back. The witch that she found in a cave who changed her life.

Her ambition to make a grand discovery has all resulted in this. Nothing but strife and pain. June didn't fault the witch for it, she was just as much a victim as June herself. But…this group…took everything from her. She couldn't accomplish her life's dream to make a discovery to change the world.

But most of all, she wanted to be a mother someday. To have a big family with a loving husband and be the mother that her own mother was to her. The fact that she could never have that echoed through her body like the shot. Never waking up to a househusband who cooked breakfast for her and their children. No children to kiss goodnight.

And then the worst of it all. She was dying alone. With no family, without her soul sister Kiko. She had to face that she would die with no one ever knowing her true fate.

A bloody cough rang out…one that _didn't_ come from June. Something dripped onto her. In fact, her face was covered in something.

She opened her eyes. The bullet didn't hit her. It didn't. It struck the man on top of her, going through his cheek and through a part of his cranium. June threw the man off and stared at him, stared at him as the light of life faded from his open eyes. As his breathing became more ragged and ragged. As his body twitched unnaturally, until it all just stopped.

And then he was dead.

June did it. June…killed someone. Took a life with her own hands. She murdered a man. The fact that he was a member of the group that was making her life a living hell made no difference. Because he was still a living human being. And now he lay dead before the horrified June.

The poor girl collapsed to the ground. If she had any food in her stomach, she would have vomited all of it out of her body. She coughed and coughed, nothing coming out of her stomach. High-pitched whines involuntarily emerged as her breath left her lungs.

"Oh my…"

It took her several minutes to finally get her breathing under control. She slowly stood up, still badly shaken up from killing the HYDRA man. She examined his body with extreme disgust. She forced herself not to look at his bloodied head.

She took the utility belt he was wearing, which had a variety of useful items. A combat knife, a flashlight, and even a climbing axe. It probably was the reason he had the rope. But why the hell did this guy have this on him? Did he scale cliffs in his spare time on this island?

Voices filled the area. Soldiers nearby heard the gunshot and were coming to investigate. June bolted before they reached the dead corpse. Over the radio that June took from the soldier went off.

"The girl is gone. She killed Matthews. She has weapons." The voice was unfamiliar.

"Dammit." Moore. He sighed. "Forget it. Pierce is dead, S.H.I.E.L.D. is collapsed, HYDRA's scattered. Find the girl and end her."

"With pleasure."

Great. These guys won't be trying to take her but kill her. Now she had no choice. She has to keep running. Or fight back when needed. June wanted nothing to do with any more kills, but she knew deep down that killing might be unavoidable, should she wish to survive the ordeal.

Eventually, June came upon some ruins. While she was no expert in Oriental studies, she knew that these ruins were distinctly Japanese. She had to take more than one subject early on, and East Asian studies were among them.

She was horrified to discover these ruins, as she finally realized the enormity of her situation. She was taken by a hostile terrorist group. To somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Nobody, nothing was coming for her. If she was to survive this ordeal, she would have to fight. Fight back harder than she ever had in her life before.

These people were determined to keep her away from society and steal her away forever. Now…she was determined to get back to her home, and the people that she loved. Nothing short of death will stop her from getting to Enchantress and freeing her. All she needed to do was wait until the storm began.

She sat underneath some of the ruins to shelter herself. She took the opportunity to rest a little bit after running for over an hour. She ended up falling asleep, sheltered by the stone. The closest she'd been to being safe in the last 50 hours.

* * *

Ava, Kiko, and Yon-Rogg close in on what once was a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. The facility only had a bare minimum skeleton crew. Guess the fall of the Triskelion and the massive revelations of HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. meant that crews across the country ended up disbanded and drastically reduced.

It was also probably a side-effect of the identities of the HYDRA sleeper agents being revealed by the actions of Black Widow and Captain America. So many people that were thought to be trying to make the world a better place, but instead were working to destroy it.

The very people that Ava spent her life helping. Such a waste of her life, and her efforts. All for what? To try and hand the world over to HYDRA? Murder billions of people for a misguided and evil cause?

This is the apogee of Kiko's self-made career as a hunter of the criminal organizations. Black Widow and Captain America did a lot of the work for her, helping to expose those responsible, and also expose the surviving members of the organization.

This was the beginning of the redemption of Yon-Rogg. There are not enough actions in the universe for him to fully redeem himself from the blind loyalty he gave to his Kree. Blind loyalty to a people that were no different than the Nazis of Earth's history. But maybe he could start here. This is where he could start making amends. One world at a time.

The trio didn't bother with stealth. The files leaked that detailed this facility exposed the identities of the legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. This was where Ava came in handy. She herself was a stealth operative, one of their compatriots. Her uniform was unmistakable.

The trio walked the standard route to the facility. Any roadblocks, Ava cleared them. Either via intimidation, or just by shoving the guards aside and unlocking the way herself. The fearful guards were able to confirm her identity and didn't attempt to stop them when they went by.

A few gates later, and the facility came into view. The few remaining HYDRA soldiers that foolishly tried to stay behind to continue the sinister agenda were swiftly cut down by the three warriors. The legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't question their presence, since one of their own was among them. Ava was no Avenger, but she was well-known among her fellow agents.

Ava walked up to one of the agents.

"Hello, sir."

"Hello, Agent Starr," he responded, a little intimidated. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here for a very special something that fell from the sky."

"Ma'am. I don't have the clear—" He stopped himself when Ava phased through him. "Come with me."

The worker led them all through the halls of the facility. It led to a large antechamber, filled with various aerial vehicles. One of them was the vehicle that Yon-Rogg came to Earth in.

"What now?" Kiko asked.

"Give me a moment."

His gauntlet scanned his own ship. It hadn't been touched by the humans yet. All of its remaining parts when it crashed were still in it. The scanner took close records of the parts and started to compare them to other vehicles in the hangar.

The gauntlet zeroed in on a prototype quinjet nearby. It was all broken and old and seemingly worn down.

"Alright. This is going to take some time. But I can modify this craft with some of my technology to advance it to something that can bring us across the world in far less time than any of your own vehicles," Yon-Rogg explained.

"How long will that take?" Kiko said impatiently.

"Around an hour."

As Yon-Rogg got to work, Ava and Kiko wandered the rest of the hangar. For a long time, they do nothing but watch the wary workers who look at Kiko and Ava in trepidation.

"It seems that you have quite the reputation around here," Kiko commented. Ava wasn't too thrilled about the supposed compliment. She knew that Kiko didn't mean it complimentary or demeaning, but she didn't like it either way.

"I wasn't always known as the phasing girl. I used to be normal."

Kiko glanced at Ava expecting elaboration. Remembering how Kiko opened up to Yon-Rogg, even with Ava's presence, the S.H.I.E.L.D. operative decided to return the favor.

Ava quietly confessed her past to Kiko.

"My father, Elihas Starr, worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. when I was a child. He worked with a man named Hank Pym. They were working on quantum technology together. It was Pym's obsession, maybe it still is. In any case, my dad dared to disagree with him. He threw him off their shared project and discredited him for good measure."

Kiko figured out the next part. "Did he try to continue working on his own?"

"Yes," Ava said somberly. "He was desperate to restore his good name, so he took risks. One too many. We were living in Argentina at the time. My mother and I visited him at his lab, where something went wrong. The quantum tunnel he was trying to construct melted down, the quantum field went out of control, destroying the lab. He told me and my mother to get out and save ourselves; I didn't want him to be alone."

Kiko was worried about Ava when she stopped. Kiko of all people knew pain when she saw it. She hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, affirming her empathy for the loss of her father.

Ava's own hand grabbed Kiko's hand, silently thanking her for her expression of sympathy.

"When I woke up, my parents were dead. I wasn't so lucky."

"That's why you can go through things? The explosion of your father's machine?" Kiko said.

Ava nodded. "Molecular disequilibrium. That's what S.H.I.E.L.D. called it. Dull name, doesn't really do justice to what it entails. Every cell in my body is torn apart and stitched back together, over and over. Every day."

"Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. take a little girl and take advantage of her condition to weaponize her?"

"I bet they normally wouldn't. It was probably HYDRA. A man named Bill foster came to look after me, but he couldn't protect me forever. They saw an opportunity in me. They taught me to control my phasing and built me this suit. They said it would dampen the pain and make it easier. I spied for them, stole for them, killed for them. In exchange for my soul, they were going to cure me."

"They lied."

"Not fully. They did build me a chamber where I can rest and alleviate the pain. But that was it. Now I wonder if S.H.I.E.L.D. was telling me the truth, but HYDRA kept them from fulfilling it."

Kiko had nothing to add to try to make Ava feel better. All she could was express a stoic affection for the young woman's plight. As it turned out, Ava and Kiko weren't so different. Both suffered a great loss, and that loss triggered their transformation into killers. People they never would have been if they hadn't suffered such a loss.

But there was one major difference between them. Ava had no choice, but Kiko did. Kiko chose to become a ruthless murderer of criminal organizations. She made the conscious decision to train herself for over a year to become a proficient swordswoman, all for revenge against the criminal underworld that took her beloved husband away.

But Ava…she had no choice. It was all decided for her. She was taken and turned into a weapon, dehumanized by the apparatus that was designed to make the world safer. There was only one decision that was her own, the decision to not let her father die alone. That one decision changed the course of her life. She was trained against her will, lied to for years, and she had no chance to choose another course.

"This is why I wanted to help you. I spent my life blindly following an organization that gave me an empty promise. Sometimes, I wonder if I can be redeemed."

Kiko wanted to encourage Ava that she could…but she couldn't. Not because she didn't believe it, but because she had no way of honestly telling her that she was redeemable. Kiko's ledger is nowhere near clean, but at least her conscience is clean because all of her victims have never been innocent people. Ava's conscience is clouded and tainted red, a red so powerful that it weighs down on her soul.

This entire conversation made Kiko look back on herself. Her own life and her own actions. Kiko thought about her own ledger and how much she had done over her life. All the people she'd killed in her personal odyssey to free the world from criminal empires.

When Kiko started considering it, she asked herself if it was worth it. If all the death and darkness and murder was worth it.

"Excuse me?" The voice of Yon-Rogg abruptly ripped the women from their conversation. "Our vehicle is ready."

The trio boarded the enhanced quinjet. The vehicle appeared no different than any other, save for the numerous holograms in the cockpit. It was piloted by an AI, a silent one that only displayed things for the people to see and command.

The ride lasted about an hour and a half. Yon-Rogg's enhancements to the aircraft made it move at incredible speeds it could never have hoped to reach before. The only limit was the structural integrity of the quinjet itself. The speed was so impressive that the sun actually came back up over the horizon as they travelled across the ocean. It was the first time Ava or Kiko had seen night turn to day like this, so fast.

The jet slowed itself down as it approached the target destination. It stopped altogether roughly half a mile from an island…and straight into the middle of a massive lightning storm. Lightning struck everywhere around the island.

"What the hell?" interjected Kiko.

Yon-Rogg piloted the aircraft through the lightning without a lot of trouble. At least, until the lightning actually began _targeting _the aircraft. The Kree pilot's skills could only go so far. A bolt of incredibly powerful lightning struck the craft, sending it careening down.

The craft crashed intact in the trees of the island.

* * *

"Sir, there is something you need to see."

Tony Stark and some of the Avengers walked into the room. "What do you have for me J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

The AI showed him a map of the region of the Pacific directly south of the main islands of Japan. It showed a strange storm system over the area. "There is an unnatural storm forming over the Pacific Ocean."

"How do you know it's unnatural?" Tony asked.

J.A.R.V.I.S. showed them what the area looked like not even an hour earlier. There were no signs of any approaching storm system. Approach wasn't even the right word, because the storm just suddenly manifested itself from practically nothing. It just appeared.

"I guess that answers that question. Any idea if it has anything to do with the scepter?"

"I do not know, sir. But I do not believe so. Neither the scepter nor the tesseract produced a signature like this one."

"Get the quinjet ready."


	8. Chapter 8

Footsteps and voices awakened June. Having been lightly sleeping, she woke up and managed to hide before whoever was there found her sleeping place. She could hear two distinct voices, one male and one female.

"Are you sure she's here?" said the woman.

"Her tracks led directly from Matthews' body. They came to these ruins, she's here," declared the man.

"Boss still want us to bring her back?"

"No. We find her, and we kill her. Bullet in the brain, simple as that," said the man.

June listened as the footsteps went by her, two distinct sets of them in different directions. She was still a bit groggy. Enough that she didn't move from her spot for a few minutes as the HYDRA foot soldiers explored the ruins. Eventually, the footsteps stopped.

The absence of sound was more horrifying than hearing the soldiers look for her. The archaeologist left her hiding spot and ran for the way out of the ruins. Right as she ran, a flashlight shined on her from behind. Powerful gunshots rang out, artifacts of death flying at her.

All but one bullet missed her, the one that hit her horrifically grazed her abdomen. It left a horrendously painful injury. The pain just shot through her like a bell. She dove behind a pillar near the exit.

"Hey, Sanders! I found her!"

Another glow from a flashlight joined the first one. The footsteps rapidly approached her location. Unable to run out of the ruins, June ran down the path in front of the pillars. The pair of foot soldiers followed her. She eventually came upon a larger chamber filled with architectural blocks that had long since fallen from the decaying ceiling.

Far too exhausted from the pain of her injury to her side, June stopped. She stayed out of sight, using one of the blocks to shield her from view. The area was well-lit from the outside, negating the need for the HYDRA foot soldiers to use their flashlights.

Unfortunately, all the other exits to this chamber were blocked off by debris. The entrance was also her only exit. She had no choice; she had to fight or die.

The agents wandered in, where she could see just around the side as they split up to get the angle on her.

This was it. This was her chance. From the ground, June pointed her handgun at the man. He didn't notice her in time, and she emptied seven rounds right into his body. His armor took the main brunt, but the impacts were like ten sledgehammers striking him in quick succession.

"Sanders!"

"Grim, I'm alright. Just get her."

Sanders attempted to sit up. Except when he did, June fired one more time. She fired a single bullet straight into his head, into his unmasked face. Unfortunately, that was the last bullet in the gun. Her only weapons now were her combat knife and the climbing axe.

"Sanders! No!" Grim immediately went to her companion and checked on him. "You fucking bitch!"

June scurried away from the immediate sight. Grim angrily fired in the direction of the noise with her assault rifle.

"You're gonna pay for that!"

June hid behind an alcove. The pain was rapidly taking hold of June's body, making it harder and harder for her to focus. She had to recoup herself to take back control of her body and mind, fighting through the pain.

Grim listened to June's heavy breathing and followed it. June quickly realized that her breathing was attracting Grim. Even worse, she accidentally cornered herself when she hid. She pulled out her climbing axe.

She followed Grim's shadow as she approached the alcove. When the shadow was close enough, June threw dirt in Grim's direction. It went straight into her unmasked face, blinding her enough that June could fight back.

Forgetting about the pain flowing in her body, June struck the assault rifle with her climbing axe, and then buried the axe straight into the spot between Grim's neck and shoulder. The woman died quickly when June retracted the blade.

June looked at the dead body of the HYDRA agent before her. She knew that she was incredibly lucky that these two were not very competent agents. She looked at her, and she realized…just how easy it was to kill them.

It was so easy…and that was terrifying. What did that say about her? About the person she was? That she could kill two people so easily? She hated that she killed them, but she knew that it was more than necessary.

As it turned out, there was no time for pondering on this. Through the broken ceiling, June witnessed powerful lightning strikes everywhere. She realized that Enchantress's cataclysmic storm was beginning.

She ran out the ruins, where she saw a large lightning bolt emanating from the sky to the ground, one that didn't act like normal lightning. The bolt was encircled by a large ring of debris from the forest.

"Moore! What is happening?" The walkie-talkie went off, and this frantic voice came on.

"I don't know. Everyone, meet up at the headquarters."

June followed the lightning bolt, approaching the area, remaining wary of the agents that were still on the island.

She climbed up a slope in the forest. When she got to the top, she could see where the lightning bolt was coming from. It was a place that looked like an encampment, several tents and a few buildings and bunkers. The lightning was emanating from a building from a small building close to the middle of the compound.

The sky was growing more and more chaotic, more and more violent. Enchantress wasn't kidding when she said that her powers would grow out of control. Interestingly, there was no rain or anything else, just lightning. And a lot of it.

In the sky, a strange aircraft flew overhead. Before June could react, the aircraft was struck by several bolts of lightning simultaneously, causing it to crash in the forest close by.

She had to make a difficult decision. Go to the aircraft and check for survivors? Go to the compound alone and free the witch? Ignore the potential survivors? Put off stopping the storm which will start wrecking the world?

June chose to go the aircraft.

It took her twenty minutes to reach the craft. It took every ounce of her willpower and then some to keep from passing out.

For a moment, she was certain that she was hallucinating. Until the hallucination approached her and embraced her with stoic joy. Kiko, who came straight at her in joy. Until she saw June's injury to her abdomen.

"Oh my God, June! What happened?!"

"I'm fine. Bullet just grazed me…What the fuck is she doing here?!"

Kiko had to physically restrain June to keep her from trying to go after Ava. Mask or no mask, June instantly recognized her.

"June! Stop! She's the reason we found you!" Kiko screamed. June calmed down but only ever so slightly. She glared daggers straight through the face of Ava Starr. Enough to slightly unnerve the S.H.I.E.L.D. operative.

However, June suppressed the hatred for the more immediate and dangerous problem. "We have to get to the compound."

"June, you look like Hell. Like you've lost half your blood. I'm surprised you can even keep your eyes open," Kiko said.

"No. The storm. The witch. Enchantress. She's causing the storm," June tried to explain.

"How?" Yon-Rogg asked.

"The device they're using to contain her, it's not appropriate. If I don't get her out of it, the storm will keep spreading. Her powers will grow uncontrollable. We have to free her, bring her back to me."

"We will, but we can't take you with us. Not like this," Kiko claimed.

"No. I have to be the one to free her," June replied. "Stop arguing, we're wasting time."

"Kiko, June is right. The lightning should not have taken down the craft. The nature of its design meant that lightning shouldn't have affected it. Imagine that kind of lightning raining down on the world," Yon-Rogg said in support of June. He didn't know for sure about Enchantress's role in this, but he believed June without hesitation.

"Fine. But you are staying behind us. We'll clear a path for you, you stay. Behind. Me. Got it?"

* * *

Yon-Rogg and Ava led the group ahead of Kiko and June. Kiko didn't let go of June's hand. It was only now that the pain of the wound to June's side began having heavily adverse effects on her. She grew exhausted quickly and felt tired from the blood she lost. However, she powered through it as much as possible.

It wasn't lost on Kiko. She hated having to do this, she would've preferred to leave June at the crash site. But there was no time to find this device and just bring it back to her. And given the large column of lightning and trash in the sky…

The Kree soldier and the S.H.I.E.L.D. operative went ahead into the ruined compound. There were dead bodies everywhere from the torrential storm. Others had gathered in a group nearby. The four surmised that there were probably more armed agents in the area that they couldn't see.

"Okay, listen to me," Yon-Rogg said. "I and Ava will go around and keep any soldiers distracted. In the meantime, Kiko, you take June to that building. That must be where they're holding the device containing the witch. Wait for my signal."

"What will it be?" June asked.

"You'll know."

Kiko and June hid behind some debris, leaving the two operatives to themselves.

"So what do we do?" Ava asked.

"Divide and conquer. I'll go after that group over there in the open. You go the opposite direction. Deal with any stragglers." His tone made it clear that he still didn't think she was trustworthy, and that their alliance was exclusively a marriage of convenience.

"Understood."

Yon-Rogg went around towards the group stopping and convening. He crawled along the foliage, covering himself until he was within a short range. The storm was so chaotic that he was only a few yards away and they still couldn't hear his footsteps.

Ava went around the other side of the tree line, picking off anyone she came across.

The Kree soldier fired into the group, sending them scattering. Kiko recognized this as her signal to bring June to the building. With no hesitation, she moved forward into the fray, a weakening June alongside her.

The women moved forward into the centralized region of the storm. They inched forward against the torrent of rain and wind ripping through the atmosphere. Kiko kept them covered, killing anybody that came close to them.

At one point, they ended up pinned down by a couple of soldiers that noticed them through the storm. They opened fire, keeping them from moving forward, pinning them behind some more debris.

June took the initiative, firing her gun in their direction. It took many shots, to the point where she nearly ran out of ammo, but she eventually killed them.

Despite her bad aim, the fact that June was able to do that impressed…and worried Kiko to an extent. "Nice job."

"No problem."

Right before they closed in on the entrance to the facility holding Enchantress, other soldiers caught sight of them and fired at them. The gunfire ended up separating June and Kiko. June hid behind the corner nearest to the door while Kiko hid behind some equipment.

Kiko silently told June to make a run for the door. Not a second later, the swordswoman charged towards the gunmen, acrobatically avoiding the gunshots. June ran into the building and started running through the hallways.

As she ran down a hall, Moore rounded a corner. The moment he spotted her, he fired at her. June dove into an office right next to her, but not before she sustained a gunshot to her abdomen. The adrenaline coursing through her body was the only thing keeping her from passing out and dying right there.

For several seconds, she gasped and held her stomach. Moore was taunting her as he slowly approached the office, taunts that were lost to June. Once she regained her ability to think, she realized that she needed to do something. She had to fight. But she couldn't use her fun, because she had virtually no bullets left.

Wait, there was a fire extinguisher. Using all of her strength, she grabbed it. Thankfully, it was a small one, like the ones in the kitchen. She resisted the urge to shut her eyes and let it all just slip away. The chaos, the mental anguish, and just join her mother in death.

But she didn't. She fought through the mental agony. Agony that was becoming slowly compounded with the physical pain slowly ebbing in. Once Agent Moore came close enough, June sprayed him with the fire extinguisher. With him temporarily blinded, and likely chemically burned, June ran down the hall.

Behind her she locked the door. The wound to her abdomen was already killing her. She lost so much blood that she was barely even able to stand.

She collapsed to the ground. She heard Moore's footsteps come closer and closer to the door, stumbling. His eyes were badly burning from the fire extinguisher chemicals.

June turned her head weakly away from the door, not wanting to see Moore walk in through the door. Her eyes gazed upon something, a glowing blue device. The same glow that emerged when Enchantress was captured was emanating from this device.

This had to be the device. She didn't have the strength to stand up, so she did the last thing she could. She raised the gun she had and did her best to aim it at the device, her consciousness rapidly fading from her.

Moore charged into the room, having regained most of his eyesight and fighting off the burning sensation in his eyes.

"NO! DON'T!"

June squeezed the trigger.

* * *

The trio of proficient warriors outside the facility met back up near the facility. The storm had garnered such power that the winds are far too powerful for them to walk against. It kept them from heading inside to help June find Enchantress's containment unit.

Nearby, another squadron of HYDRA agents emerged from the forest. Before they could get anywhere, a powerful wall of lightning vaporized them into nothing in an instant. In fact, the atmosphere itself shifted.

The rain abruptly stopped, and the wind just stagnated. It was so sudden that the three fighters ended up falling down from having conditioned themselves to withstand the intense wind. The column of lightning disappeared, but the ominous overhead clouds remained.

Everything was silent. Completely silent. So silent that it seemed like deafness. Everything was still. Nothing moved or made a single sound.

And then the door leading into the facility. Out of the doors came a bloodied and battered Moore. He coughed up blood, his limbs twisted, and bones broken and exposed. From the smoke emerged Enchantress in all her might.

Her face betrayed little of her emotion. But even so, the immense hurricane of rage in her face was unmistakable. The supernova ready to explode from her body was evident in her subtleties.

She ominously approached the fatally battered Moore. She crouched over him and pulled his face an inch away from her own. Her mouth gaped open, unnaturally wide, beyond any human capability.

Orange ominous clouds of energy emerged from her mouth and entered Moore's. For ten seconds the clouds of energy entered his mouth. When Enchantress was finished, she distanced herself from the dying man.

And then it became more apparent that this man wasn't bleeding to death, no. No.

Moore violently screamed. A bloodcurdling scream that ripped the very around him. A powerful orange glow emanated from every hole in his body. His mouth, his ears, his eyes, the parts of his body gored open from the broken bones, all of it. The glows turned to bright fire, fire that cooked every part of him.

The mystical fire cooked and roasted and charred him from the inside, and the magic that fueled it ensured that Moore would not die until the fire reached his brain. It took five minutes of burning to reach his brain, all of which he felt and never could fall unconscious. Once the mystical fire cooked his brain, his entire body vanished in a cloud of ash and smoke. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the area.

Yon-Rogg, Kiko, and Ava stared in horror at the scene, and in even more horror at the witch herself.

"_That was for hurting June."_

* * *

The witch walked down to the beach, contemplating everything that happened. How all of this was her fault, because of her incompetence. Her incompetence, her inability to be the warrior and the goddess and the powerful witch that she'd been for thousands of years nearly led to the destruction of the world and the painful end of June.

She sat on the sand; her legs crossed. She listened to the sound, the beautiful sound of the moving water. The comforting familiar sound. Her own guilt and anguish were the reasons that the clouds lingered overhead. The ominous clouds were reflection of her guilt.

"Hey. None of this is your fault."

"_It is, June. I claimed to be a great warrior, a great mage, and yet here we are, sitting beneath clouds that could have destroyed this world."_

"You spent thousands of years inside a _doll_. You hear me? A doll. I don't blame you for being out of practice for it. And you aren't."

"_Thank you for your encouragement. But it does not change that this is my fault. I was weak. I let myself be distracted long enough for them to capture me, and worse, you."_

"This. Is. Not. Your. Fault."

The psychic conversation between Enchantress and June brought comfort to the witch. But she still believed herself to be at fault for all of this. From this point on, she swore she'd hold nothing back unless civilians were in the crossfire. She wasn't going to let her incompetence and overconfidence cost her anything else. Not again.

"_I see that you had to do some questionable things since you arrived."_

"I had no choice. But that's not the worst part."

"_The worst part is that it was so easy after the first time."_

"Yes.

"_There was a time back when I was a nascent sorceress spirit and killing seemed so horrible. Until I had no choice but to kill to save my people. The first time was horrendous, but then it became easy. It became so easy to kill. I tried to keep you safe from it, not letting you witness the kills I made."_

Enchantress could sense June's appreciation for empathizing with her. The fact that Enchantress sensed no resentment, only gratitude from June gave the witch some peace. She was able to let go of some her guilt and self-hatred.

The ominous dark clouds dissipated with the witch's peacefulness. The clouds parted, letting the warm sunshine through. It was like a spotlight that spread outwards from Enchantress until it covered the whole island.

And then the sky was clear again. Beautiful and light blue, with the sun touching everything beneath it with a beautiful life-giving warm hold.

Yon-Rogg, Ava, and Kiko stayed within the trees, watching the silent conversation happen. They didn't know what to say to her, so they kept their mouths shut. They did come out and sit with the witch, a gesture she appreciated.

None of them got the chance to. A few minutes after the clouds cleared, an aerial vehicle came into view. Another quinjet. More HYDRA agents coming to take down her? Must be. The witch shoots a powerful fireball at the vehicle. It swiftly dodged the fireball.

Out from the bottom of the vehicle emerged something. The humanoid red and gold clad figure that landed on the ground before the four. Yon-Rogg was concerned at first, but he noticed that the other three weren't concerned.

"_Hello, Tony."_

"You know who I am?"

"_I do."_ The witch stood up. The quinjet landed in the sand nearby. Enchantress diverted the blowing sands away from them. _"What do you want?"_

"To get to know you… All four of you."


	9. Chapter 9

The crew on the quinjet grew from one person to five. Enchantress stayed awake for the entire duration of the seven-hour flight from the island just south of Japan to Avengers Tower in New York City. A rather impressive speed, considering the distance that must be crossed.

Almost nobody spoke during the entire duration of this aerial journey. Enchantress remained distant from Tony, despite his best efforts to make casual conversation. Instead, he maintained conversation with…Jarvis? Was that his name?

Throughout this entire trip, Enchantress kept her own form, letting June recuperate inside her body.

"Welcome to Stark Tower," Tony said, retaining his jovial and outgoing, if slightly annoying persona.

"This is your home?" Yon-Rogg asked.

"Yes. And no. Think of this as a workplace for me, and I love working so this place has a bar and beds and everything else you need."

"So this _is_ your home," Ava said.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

The witch and Kiko silently walked through the clean and pristine halls that made up Avengers Tower until they reached said bar. The view of New York City from here was beautiful.

"_Enchantress."_

June emerged from her slumber within the witch, fully healed from her gunshot wounds. She would however need a new set of clothes. Her current outfit was filthy and riddled with holes.

It was weird. So weird. June never thought she would ever see what the tower looked like from the inside. She only ever saw it from the outside, how it looked back when it was Stark Tower and the base of a large pillar of light that created a portal to the other end of space.

"How are you feeling, June?" Kiko asked.

"Better. Much better. I think what I need is a real bed and some real good food right now." June walked around the table and sat down in a comfortable chair, finally feeling safe after…a week? That was it? Only a week passed between falling into that cavern in Peru, and now June was in Avengers Tower?

Wow. Such sort time for all of this to happen. Such little time. It was like these last several days; she was nonstop going through one thing after another. One problem after another. She hadn't had a moment to calm down and sit down and just think about things. Not a single moment of pure safety and quiet. Did she have that now?

She lay down across the couch and let her eyes close. Kiko watched over her faithfully. Tony came in followed by the Kree soldier and Ghost. He told them to make themselves at home and then approached Kiko.

"Nice to meet you." They properly shook hands.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I should let you know, your friend, Yon-Rogg, he doesn't intend to stay. He says that he wants my help fixing his ship so that he can continue his own personal mission," Tony rambled.

"How did you know to come to the island?"

"The storm. A storm suddenly manifests over some part of the Pacific Ocean, I figured there was something there of interest. I was right."

A woman with a severe and powerful presence came into the room.

"Maria Hill, I'd like you to meet—"

"Akiko Yamashiro," Hill finished.

"You know each other?" Tony interjected.

"No. I know _about_ her," Hill clarified.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm guessing?" Kiko said.

"I used to be. I spent years searching for you, trying to get in contact with you. And now you suddenly show up right after S.H.I.E.L.D. is revealed to be a breeding ground for HYDRA. What a coincidence," Hill quipped sarcastically.

"I never felt quite right serving a single organization. I did well on my own," Kiko said stoically.

"Okay, if we're done with the verbal table tennis here, maybe we can get started on what was happening on that island yesterday?"

Kiko gestured towards a sleeping June. "Ask her when she wakes up."

"_No need. You can speak directly with me."_

Tony glared at the ashen witch in disbelief.

"I'm going to leave you two alone for the time being."

* * *

Tony attempted to gather his thoughts and put things together about Enchantress's story. "So let me get this straight. You spent thousands of years trapped in a doll in Peru, imprisoned by HYDRA, and this woman freed you. You possessed her, and then they went after you, briefly recaptured you, and they freed you. In the span of a week?"

Tony paced around the room as he tried to wrap his head around the witch's story and capabilities. Not for one second did he disbelieve her, so much as try to comprehend her history, her powers.

"_That's right. Did something not make sense?"_

"I'm just wondering how you knew June was compatible with you."

"_It is a metaphysical compatibility. Mind, mystical, spirit, physical. Even now, I can sense other compatible beings. Varying degrees of compatibility. June's being is seamlessly meshed with mine, a perfect host."_

"That's amazing. And you've been around for how long?"

"_I'm as old as the planet on which we stand. I've witnessed a lot of history, and I was around when history was but a dream. I even witnessed history on other worlds before I came here."_

"How did you get to Earth?"

"_Other worlds developed incredible levels of technology long before you gained the power to control fire. They brought me to Earth almost two million years ago, roughly. They left me to explore the planet, and I decided to stay and teach humans how to harness the environment."_

"You mean…you taught us to control fire."

"_I did. I taught you humans many things. I taught construction and mathematics. Some of them, I helped to teach magic, the magic I could sense in all of them. Different than my own, but with great potential, nonetheless. In what you now call Tibet, they grew so powerful so fast that I entrusted them with an ancient artifact. After thousands and thousands of generations of sorcerers in Afro-Eurasia, I travelled to the Americas to do the same, but I did not get very far."_

"Why?"

"_Hive. An ancient being that can possess dead bodies. It invaded this world, and I alongside my protegee sorcerers sealed it into another world. HYDRA was born with the sole purpose of bringing it back. Some of them were renegade sorcerers. They attacked me, killed my host, and locked me inside the doll for three thousand years."_

Tony poured them a drink to share. She accepted the friendly gesture but took silent note about the poor quality of the alcohol. It was nothing compared to the ancient forgotten recipes of the Mayans. An ancient bitter, yet sweet substance, consistent with chocolate. Frothy, it was among the greatest delicacies she ever received from the Mesoamerican people.

This tower was rather amazing. The fact that the little that she did to help humanity helped them to get so far on their own. Or rather, that this one man could do what took many intelligent beings a long time. Perhaps the universe could learn from this man's plans.

How different would things have been had she never been sealed away? Perhaps it was better never to know this fact.

* * *

June wandered through the tower. The area was quite beautiful. She wandered until she found Yon-Rogg in front of a large set of holograms.

"What's going on?" June requested.

"I am repairing my ship. Tony brought back the quinjet from the island. I'm making some repairs. When it is fixed, I will use it to leave this world and continue my own mission."

"Leaving so soon?" June said.

"I have no choice. I cannot stay."

"I get it. You have your own world, and I have mine," June said solemnly. "How long until you finish?"

"A couple of hours. Don't worry, I won't just leave. I'll let you all say goodbye to me if you so wish." Yon-Rogg glanced and smiled towards June. "Oh, before I forget. I have this for you."

He handed her a holographic schematic.

"Consider this a parting gift for you and this planet in whole. With this, you humans may gain a true foothold in the cosmic realm."

"Thank you. I'll just leave you to finish working."

June sat at the bar examining the holographic schematic. The technology was light years beyond anything even Tony Stark himself could make. This thing even had something about jump points in space, portals that allow for legitimate superluminal travel across the universe. There was even one just above the Earth. The planet in mind is something called Xandar.

"What's that?" Tony slid into the seat next to her.

"Technology far beyond even what you're capable of, Tony." She handed him the holographic tablet. He gazed at it in pure awe, almost ecstasy. Made sense, considering his extreme aptitude for technological marvels.

"The alien guy gave you this thing?"

"Yon-Rogg. And yes, he did. Consider it a parting gift, he isn't staying."

Tony put down the device and walked to the other side of the bar. "Want something to drink?"

"I don't drink. Plus, I'm not even legal in this country."

"_Have you forgotten that he has a lot of money. He can get away with anything."_

Enchantress's sudden appearance in the seat next to June startled Tony out of his mind. "Does…Does she always do that?" June quietly nodded. "Alright, I meant to ask this earlier, but what can you exactly do, aside from take residency in human women."

"_My primary powers are to manipulate the elements. Earth, air, ice, and electricity."_

Enchantress, being the sorceress showman, teleported to the center of the room. She danced elegantly conjuring each of her elemental powers, firing ice to extinguish candles, reigniting them with her flame magic and a whole bunch of other moves.

Tony clapped for her when she finished. "Bravo. That's really impressive. What about you, June?"

"Mine…right now, all I can do is heal people and make people stronger," June claimed.

"_You have more powers than you realize, young one. I can sense one particularly powerful one you've yet to channel."_

"Really?"

"_Yes. Your experiences over these last few days unlocked something in you."_ The ashen sorceress summoned an expensive crystalline object to her hands.

"Oh, please don't mess with that," Tony begged.

The sorceress tossed it into the air, much to his and June's fright. The Englishwoman jumped to catch it, though there was no way she could reach… It stopped in midair, contained in a translucent milky white spherical barrier. It just levitated inside of it.

"How did I just do that?"

"_It is the other power common to healers. It is very rare for a healer not to be a guardian just the same. Almost all healers I ever had always could produce barriers, like this one."_

The shield faltered and disappeared suddenly. Enchantress returned the figure to where she received it.

"How do I control it?"

"_This power is born of a caring person's wish to protect others. Not conscious, subconscious, emotional and heartfelt. The key to that lies in figuring out why you want to protect others. That internal heartfelt wish. And that is something only you can figure out."_

The witch disappeared.

"Does she always do that? Speak in a weird and creepy voice?" Tony asked.

"Don't let that fool you, she's nice. But…yeah," June confirmed.

"Hey, June," Kiko interrupted. "Have any of you seen Ava?"

Tony and June shook their heads in unison. "Why?"

"I can't find her anywhere. I turned my back to her for one second, and she just…vanished. I know that's her power and all, but I think she might have left," Kiko said.

"Why would she do that?" Tony asked.

"I have no idea," Kiko said.

"Neither do I."

"Okay. So that's two of you gone. Well…one of them is still here but is very much ready to leave for whatever reason," Tony rambled.

June wasn't particularly upset at the development. While she was grateful to Ava and Yon-Rogg, she hardly knew anything about them. And Ava was part of the reason she had to kill people, deserving or no. However, she nonetheless would remember them for the rest of her life.

Kiko was the more upset of the two women, though not significantly so. Sharing some battle experience with them, she quickly grew to trust them. She didn't grieve like she lost a best friend, but she was disappointed at their leaving. She would forever be grateful to them for helping to save her best friend.

"Why did you bring us here?" Kiko asked Tony.

"I want to talk to you about the Avengers." The women instantly realized why they were brought here.

"I'm in," June interjected much to Tony and Kiko's surprise.

"Just…just like that?" Tony said.

"If she's in…so am I," Kiko concurred.

"Wow. And I practiced this whole speech on the way back, about the scepter and everything else." Tony laughed a little bit and poured all three of them a drink. "What's your motivation?"

"Recent experiences," June said dryly. "Let's just say that I want to fight to end fights so that no one has to grow through what I did."

"I can empathize with that," Tony muttered, referencing his near sacrifice in New York a couple years earlier.

"So can I," Kiko said.

* * *

Later on, June sat on one of the couches in the bar. She gazed out of the window as the ship Yon-Rogg was repairing flew off into the night sky, leaving the atmosphere. June wondered if she'd ever see him again.

She barely noticed the couch dipping to one side.

"I need to tell you something."

Kiko spoke to her best friend, this time without her signature mask based on the Japanese flag.

"My husband…he didn't die. He was murdered. By his own brother, who joined the Yakuza because I didn't choose him. With this very sword that I use now." The samurai's voice choked a little bit.

June looked on tearfully silent. She held her best friend's hand.

"I went to Japan and learned the archaic arts of wielding this sword. I became strong and fierce and powerful. And…I took revenge on the Yakuza clan and ever since then, I've been travelling the world, destroying mafia families, cartels, and Yakuza clans across the world."

"Why were you in New York?"

"A couple of mafia families took hold here. I came in to get rid of them," Kiko confessed. She expected a look of shock and horror. In fact, it would've been better than the smile that she received instead.

What June said was a little bit _more_ disturbing and frightening. "Two months ago, I would've run as far away from you as I could. But…I know what it's like to be a victim of a criminal enterprise. If anything, I'd be rooting for people like you to exist."

Kiko looked down to the floor. "I'm sorry. For whatever happened."

"Don't be. It wasn't because of you. It was because of HYDRA. And if the Avengers are how I can destroy them, then I will become one."

Enchantress looked upon both women from within June's mind. She was impressed with their fortitude to fight, yet sorrowful for the manner in which they came to possess this strength to fight. No one should be subjected to such abject horrors.

But now…all they could do was move forward. Change the world one day at a time, one step at a time.

Once upon a time, June had to choose between making a difference in the world or doing what she loved. June decided to do what she loved. That decision allowed her to find Enchantress in her cavern, and now she had the power to make real change. By doing what she loved, she gained the power to change the world.

June looked down at the glass and abruptly realized that she might have just answered Enchantress's question from earlier, about why she wanted to protect others.

Because she didn't want them to suffer the fate she did on that island in the middle of nowhere.

June summoned another mystical white barrier, and shaped it into a disc. She then shaped it into numerous other figures, such as spheres, cubes, pyramids, even cones, and cylinders. So many different ways to configure her barriers.

"_As always, you never cease to amaze me. Normally it takes years for people to develop their skills. You're a true natural."_

Only June heard the witch's compliment towards her.

June gazed upon her mystical barriers and smiled. She was ready to make a real change.


	10. Chapter 10

Pietro and Wanda Maximoff stood inside the compound, deep and secure within the fortress right outside the capitol of Sokovia, Novi Grad. They gazed at one another, holding hands as the only survivors of Baron von Strucker’s experiments with Loki’s scepter.

A voice over an intercom stated about how they were under attack. The explosions outside, the mobilization of all the armed men in the facility, it was obvious who was attacking them.

The Avengers.

They came for the scepter, and to claim everything they’d accomplished.

* * *

Outside, in the snowy forest, Natasha drove a jeep through the horrendous enemy fire. Standing in the bed of the jeep behind her was Clint, firing one arrow after another in rapid succession against anything in his sight.

Beside them, June, donning an ethereal white cheongsam shoulder less sleeved dress. Engraved in the mystical clothing were various symbols of clouds and wind. Her blonde hair, now down and reaching her waist, flew in the wind around her, topped with a wide brimmed white hat that always stayed on her head. She was fully aware of how silly and impractical this looked, bur practicality isn’t all that important when magic is in play, nor did June care about what others thought of her battle attire.

She used her shields to defend her allies and knock enemies away. She also used them to destroy structures by cutting them with shields or crushing their structures.

In the bed of her jeep was Kiko, herself and her sword strengthened by June’s magic. The other humans declined her offer of enhancement, more accustomed to fighting without it.

The empowered Kiko and her sword took down any enemies that came close by. Her empowered sword released powerful beams of energy that intercepted many enemies. None survived her strikes, adding to the numerous dark souls stolen by the sword.

Another one of the cars from HYDRA pursued the four cars piloted by Avengers. Before they could fire a single shot from their powerful weaponry, Thor came in and easily wrecked the vehicle. He flew onto a guard tower, defeating all of the guards up there, and intercepting a few straggling fliers along the way with Mjolnir.

At the base of the same tower, Enchantress mixed the use of her long daggers and her magic to defeat her foes. Blades gracefully swinging through the air, slicing into opponents like a knife through paper. Her elemental magic channeled through the ends of her swords, letting her vanquish and destroy enemies attempting to escape from her.

Thor came down holding a large section of the tower’s support structure. A nearby group of HYDRA footsoldiers foolishly attempted to face them down. Thor tossed the reinforcement beam into the air, and Enchantress warped to it, directing it towards them with a powerful swift kick, killing all of them instantly.

Steve rode by on his motorcycle, punching away any idiots that come too close, and using his physics-defying shield to knock away any vehicles.

Hulk helped out, clearing out entire droves of footsoldiers in a furious fit. None of them stood a chance against the raging Bruce Banner.

Tony flew ahead of them in his newest suit, taking a second to destroy the armed gate to let his team pass. He flew straight towards the HYDRA base. He banged right into an energy shield.

“Shit!”

“Language!” Steve interjected. “Jarvis, what’s the view from upstairs?”

Jarvis scanned the area via the Veronica Satellite. “The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker’s technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we’ve taken.”

“Loki’s scepter must be here.” Thor took down another squadron, even stepping out of the way when calling back Mjolnir to let it hit a hapless footsoldier. “Strucker couldn’t mount this defense without it. At long last.”

Natasha took down a truck and two large-weapon gunners with nothing more than her wit and combat abilities. “‘At long last’ is lasting a little long, boys.”

Taking shelter against a bunker, Clint sarcastically uttered, “Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise.”

“Wait a second, no one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said ‘Language’?” Tony said, holding back laughter.

_“Steve, of all the possible things to concern yourself with, you worry about profanity?”_

“You really need to get your priorities straight,” June said. “We have more important things to worry about.”

“Thanks, guys—err—girls,” Tony said.

“It just slipped out,” Steve muttered. He flipped over, hurling his motorcycle at an enemy vehicle, wrecking it and the motorcycle.

“Sir, the city is taking fire,” Jarvis said.

“I can deal with that,” June volunteered.

“No, Moone, we need you and Enchantress here, both of you. One slip up, we might need you to save one of us,” Tony demanded. “Send in the Iron Legion.”

* * *

Back within the HYDRA research base, Strucker ran up the stairs to see what was happening.

“Who gave the order to attack?” he asked.

“Herr Strucker, it’s the Avengers,” answered a technician.

“They landed in the far woods. The perimeter guard panicked,” explained the head of security for the base.

“They have to be after the scepter,” he said to his head researcher. “Can we hold them?”

“They’re _the Avengers_.”

Strucker ordered, “Deploy the rest of the tanks. Concentrate fire on the weak ones. A hit may make them close ranks.”

“Everything we’ve accomplished…” Strucker whispered to his head researcher. He didn’t want to destroy everything they did or hand it to the Avengers. “But we’re on the verge of our greatest breakthrough.”

“Then let’s show them what we’ve accomplished,” requested the head of research. “Send out the twins.”

Strucker shook his head. “It’s too soon.”

“It’s what they signed up for.”

“My men can hold them,” Strucker insisted. He turned back to the rest of his men in the room. “We will not yield! The Americans sent their circus freaks to test us. We will send them back in bags. No surrender!”

“No surrender!” his men called back. The opposite of his intention to surrender and destroy everything, give the Avengers what they want to stall for time.

When he turned back to look at the twins, he saw to his horror that they’d gone to fight the Avengers themselves.

* * *

Outside, Enchantress spotted the numerous tanks emerging from the base.

_“Finally, something fun.”_

She warped right to them, and clashed her mystically charged swords together, unleashing a powerful blast of all four types of her elemental magic. The blast completely obliterated everything around her, tanks and people alike. She was standing in a circle of destruction. She smiled, reveling in the combat.

Elsewhere, more soldiers emerged. The lucky ones died from straight up sword strikes, maybe a punch that broke their necks. The others? Some were impaled on blades and electrocuted, others burned to a crisp, and others frozen to the bone and shattered. Enchantress, benevolent she might be, was still a highly ruthless combatant.

In another part of the forest, June used her magic to shield herself from attacks. She used her shields as battering rams, attacking them and knocking them away. She would also use shields to disable the weapons of her enemies. Her favored method was cutting, though she also crushed them and popped weapons from inside as well, just because cutting would get too boring. It didn’t take long for the lowly fighters to realize that fighting her was meaningless. Most tried to run.

In another part of the forest, Kiko, with polished acrobatic maneuvers, avoided all enemy fire, and charged straight into a group of HYDRA footsoldiers. She leapt with incredibly suave flips high into the air and dove back down with a crash against the ground, sending several of them into the air. She swiftly sliced apart the others, and used a powerful mystical strike wave from her sword to slice an enemy tank in half.

Not too far away, Clint took shelter from another bunker behind a large tree. He took careful aim at the bunker unaware of his presence with an explosive arrow. He fired it and took shelter behind the tree. Nothing happened, as Pietro, moving faster than the eye could see, intercepted it.

Clint attempted to shoot it again. The blue speedster rammed straight into him, knocking him down. Now the archer saw Pietro.

“You didn’t see that coming?” He sped away.

The bunker noticed Clint in his moment of shocked distraction and shot him with a glancing energy shot, taking out a noticeable chunk of his side.

Natasha quickly ran to her best friend, Kiko following close behind.

Elsewhere in the forest, Pietro rammed into Captain America, who was spry enough to land back on his feet. “We have an enhanced in the field.”

“Clint’s hit!” Nat announced. She bandaged his wound and stemmed the bleeding. The bunker kept firing at the trio. Kiko blocked each shot with her empowered katana. The shots simply stopped, others were deflected, taking out some of the soldiers manning the bunker.

“Somebody want to deal with that bunker?” an annoyed Nat asked.

Hulk roared in and did what she asked.

“Thank you,” she said flatly. “Where’s June?”

“I’m a little busy here. Get him stabilized, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“What are you doing?” Kiko asked.

* * *

June spotted Pietro running nearby at full speed. She was taken aback by how fast he was moving. June’s sprint was his slow jog.

The white witch offset the weakness with her own mystical shields. She blocked him from running with a flat barrier. She used his shock as an opportunity for herself, running up to him at full speed, catching him off guard and sending him flying.

The Sokovia native stood up and looked at her. The moment he gazed upon her he smiled.

“Really? Of all the outfits to wear around here, you pick that?” he taunted, laughing. Even June couldn’t help but smile and chuckle.

The speedster charged at her. He moved so fast that June barely avoided his body slam. The only reason she avoided it was by luck that she dodged to the left while he was aiming for her right. He stopped on a dime and turned back, but this time she attacked him.

She threw a small barrier at his legs, but he jumped over them with ease. His next attack was a speed-powered punch against her abdomen. She blocked it with a barrier, one that she wrapped around his hand to keep him from escaping.

He punched her in the face before she could react, forcing her to drop the shield. She recovered quickly enough to keep him from hightailing away from her.

“Seriously? Stop that!” Pietro was rapidly getting fed up fighting what he saw as a carbon copy of his sister.

June elegantly moved her arms to throw a feign attack at him. He fell for it, and dodged the wrong way, allowing June to gracefully move her legs to knock him out with another force field smash. He was smashed backwards, against another force field.

The impact stunned him long enough for June to pin him down with cuff-shaped force fields, completely immobilizing him.

“I got the enhanced.”

Enchantress teleported to her. _“I’ll take him to the quinjet. You get to Barton.”_

The light witch ran off, leaving the ashen sorceress and Pietro alone. She held him in place with mystical chains.

_“These are stronger than they look. You pull against them hard enough; they’ll amputate your hands. I recommend you do as I say. Also, I can sense the magical energy you use to sprint. You will not be able to use it with these chains.”_

“Are you and that girl twins, too?” Pietro asked.

_“Come on!” _The witch pulled him to his feet and dragged him away.

* * *

June met up with Natasha and Kiko. She immediately knelt next to Clint.

“Get rid of this shit…” June ordered.

“Hey, Cap,” Clint groaned. “She used a bad word.”

“Ugh…. That’s not going away anytime soon.”

Kiko subtly smiled at the little pokey fun.

June maintained a serious composure and healed Clint of his lethal injury. While his blood supply and body are intact, there was nothing she could do about the shock going through his body. That he had to deal with on his own.

Thor fell right out of nowhere. “How is he?”

“He’ll be alright,” June answered. “Gonna take a while for him to recover from the shock, though.”

“I’ll take him to the quinjet.” Thor lifted off with Barton in his arm.

“Okay, now what do we do?” Kiko asked.

The women spend the next fifteen minutes roaming the woods, capturing any surviving HYDRA members. All of them were fully aware that they were completely outmatched. Any of the three women roaming the area could kill them all swiftly and without batting an eye.

When it appeared that all the stragglers had been found, Nat radioed in, “We’re locked down out here.”

“Then get to Banner, time for a lullaby,” Steve ordered.

“You guys got this?” Nat asked.

Both women nodded. The Russian combatant promptly left to find the Hulk. The English sorceress and Japanese swordswoman immediately went back to the quinjet. Thor and Enchantress were already there alongside a recovering Barton, and the imprisoned Pietro, though none of the others knew his name by that point.

June magically reverted to a more practical conservative look, with blue jeans and a jacket.

“No,” Pietro exclaimed dryly. “I like the other look better.”

Kiko shook her head, disgusted with him. June snickered a little bit, and Enchantress didn’t give him a second thought. The Englishwoman sat down in the quinjet and relaxed.

“We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage,” Steve warned.

_“That must be the twin that you mentioned, no?”_

Pietro scoffed and looked away from her. He focused on the ground so that he didn’t have to look at anyone…though he did want to take more looks at the woman who kicked his ass. He always liked women who could kick a good amount of ass, especially if it was _his_ ass they kicked.

He didn’t want to risk inciting Enchantress’s ire, or that of Kiko. He of all people in the world knew the glare of a caring woman. Like his mother, like his sister. Unknown to him, Enchantress could sense his attraction towards June.

Enchantress produced blue tendrils from her hand. June immediately stopped her.

_"What?"_

June spoke in telepathic thought. “We both know that could seriously hurt him.”

_“It makes no difference, he was working with these terrorists, the ones that kidnapped you.”_

“I don’t believe he’s a bad person. Tell me, do you sense, on the surface, any malevolence?”

_“No,” _Enchantress confessed.

“If we get to talk on his own, I think we’ll get all the information, and then some,” June thought. Enchantress realized that June saw potential for him to become a fellow Avenger.

Enchantress had unique telepathic powers. She could sense immediate thoughts and memories, but to access deep into someone’s mind, she needed to do something much more invasive and painful, a spell that made tendrils that would literally go in the victims’ mind and extract all their memories. Not a pleasant experience.

A few minutes later, Natasha and a calmer Bruce came back. She quickly got him a set of headphones to listen to some calming music. June didn’t really understand how that worked between them, but regardless it worked to keep the rampaging Hulk under some reins.

“Guys, I got Strucker,” Steve announced.

“Yeah, I got something bigger.” Tony sounded a bit shocked and…somber.

Good. Maybe this mission was worth it after all.

“Thor. I got eyes on the prize.” That was the Tony the Avengers knew and loved. Jovial and happy-go-lucky, if a little bit out of touch with reality on occasion. 

Well, their work was complete.

* * *

Tony piloted the quinjet while the others took some respite on the flight home. Natasha repeatedly switched between checking on Hawkeye to Bruce. Kiko gazed into Soultaker, speaking in her native tongue to her husband from within the sword. June watched over a relatively calm Pietro, and Thor just stared at the scepter alongside Enchantress and Steve.

Hawkeye was doing much better by this point. Someone by the name of Helen Cho had been on hold in case they needed her services back at HQ. She insisted that she and her staff should come anyways, just to make sure that everything was alright. June took no offense to it, they should hold no precautions back when dealing with the health of an Avenger.

The witch touched the casing, caressing it, almost like it was her baby…or something. Whatever the case, her interest in the scepter was clear. She recognized it.

“Thor, report on the Hulk,” Nat requested.

“The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims.” No hint of sarcasm in his voice. He attempted to backtrack a bit when Nat glared at him and Bruce looked defeated. “But not the screams of the dead, of course, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining, and tales of sprained deltoids and gout.”

The only ones that didn’t giggle or even react to Thor’s dorky comments were Kiko and Enchantress. They just shook their heads.

“Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?” Steve muttered.

_“He’s not.”_

Tony put Jarvis in charge of flying the quinjet and came to get a closer ear to the conversation.

“What do you mean? What about him?” Steve pointed at Pietro. The ashen witch warped over to him, caressing his face with an ominous tenderness.

“Please don’t touch me…” he meekly asked.

Enchantress didn’t stop touching him, but she didn’t touch him anywhere inappropriate.

_“This one’s powers are natural. They were not given, he always had them.”_

“If I may correct you, I didn’t have white hair until _after_ Strucker used that scepter on me.”

Enchantress giggled without a smile. _“The scepter merely unlocked the power residing within you and your sister. Not that it didn’t have an effect of its own. Really I shouldn’t be saying ‘scepter’.”_

“Why is that?” Kiko asked.

Enchantress warped back to the case. _“This scepter…It is not just an ordinary mystical artifact. This crystal…it is a container.”_

“For what?” Clint said.

_“Jarvis is flying this craft, no?”_

“He is,” Tony confirmed.

Enchantress moved her hands and arms with a dancer’s grace, and then everything around the Avengers and Pietro turned black for a few seconds. The witch’s voice narrated the events that happened around them.

_“When the universe was born, there were six concentrations of energy, powerful and primordial.” _

The area became animated, with stars flowing everywhere until they settled, resembling the haze of the Milky Way from Earth.

_“These concentrations condensed into artifacts. The infinity stones.”_

Six colors coalesced into six stones of different colors. Each one enlarged as the ancient witch identified them by name. First the blue, then the purple, red, green, yellow, and finally orange.

_“Space. Power. Reality. Time. Mind. Soul. The most powerful artifacts in the universe, unparalleled in their abilities.”_

The illusion came to an end, and everything got sucked into a single space, a space that shifted back into the ashen witch.

_“I cannot tell which infinity stone is contained within this scepter, but I recognize it as one of them. However, I believe you’ve all already encountered the power of one stone. The Space Stone. The Chitauri invasion of New York City, if I’m not mistaken.”_

“I guess June filled you in a couple of things over the past few months,” Tony said.

“No,” June denied responsibility for educating the witch. “She was aware of what happened in the world for the whole time she was in that jar. She already knew of New York’s events even before I ever got to Peru.”

“In any case, Banner and I will give this scepter…and that…infinity stone the once over back at our lab before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you and the moon witch? Just a few days till the farewell party.”

“Yes, of course,” Thor answered.

_“I have no need for it.”_

“You’re going to the party, right?” Tony asked Thor.

“Of course, a victory should be honored with revels.”

Tony stared at the scepter, thinking about the hallucination he had. The one with all the Avengers dead…while he was unharmed, and another portal letting the Chitauri army enter Earth, destroying it.

He hoped the scepter would be the key to preventing that very future, not knowing that the hallucination was induced by Pietro’s enraged twin sister, enraged over the capture of her brother. 


	11. Chapter 11

Pietro sat in a nice room relatively low inside Avenger’s tower. It was a suite filled with everything he could ever need. A bed, fresh clothes, treadmill, weights, consoles, a TV, even a luxury shower.

He was also certain that there were plenty of cameras around to watch his every move. No sense of privacy. Classic American way of doing things, especially with the National Surveillance Agency…or whatever NSA stood for glaring everywhere.

They even let him have a balcony, one that was encircled by some kind of force barrier, the same kind that kept him from opening the door or even touching the vents. From the looks of it, it wasn’t a technological enhancement. It was probably that girl that kicked his ass before.

In Pietro’s hands was a file about that same girl. Doctor June Moone, born the three years after him.

He noticed how a part of the file mentioned something about her suspicion that she suffered from schizophrenia a few years earlier, something she never recovered from. A voice that was revealed to be the voice of an ancient witch, the Enchantress calling to free her. Something she accomplished at the cost of a terrorist group coming after her, abducting her to an island on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, an ordeal she clearly survived.

Makes sense that she’d survive that experience if she could beat him in a fight. And the file saves the best for last. She graduated with a doctoral degree in 2012 in Mesoamerican studies. No small feet for someone as young as her, even if it wasn't useful in combat.

“Thank you.”

Pietro glanced at her startled. “How did you get in here?”

“The enchantment my other half put over this room blocks everyone out except for her and me,” June explained.

The speedster put the file down. “Any particular reason why your friend gave me this?”

“Probably the same reason she gave me the file on you, told me everything about you.” June sat down on the chair next to him, pouring him a glass of wine. “Don’t worry, I know you have enhanced metabolism, I’m just doing this as a formality.”

“And you, if I’m not mistaken, are still underage.”

“I’m an Avenger who’s less than a year from turning 21. I think the law will make an exception.” What she meant as a jest didn’t sit well with Pietro. He visibly became enraged, enough that June backtracked. “I’m sorry, for whatever I said.”

Pietro took a long drink from a full glass.

“Is that why you’ve always protested against the Avengers? You think we act like we’re above the law?”

“You don’t act like it,” Pietro snapped. “You practically are. You guys can do some horrendous things and get away with it like it doesn’t make a difference. Even if they aren’t Avengers, powerful people never get their deserved comeuppance.”

He stormed out onto the balcony and leaned on the rail enraged, silently venting everything out over the city.

“Stark…” June said.

“What?” June’s word confused Pietro, because she was absolutely right about who Pietro was talking about.

“You said ‘powerful people’. Thor’s not a resident of this world, I haven’t been in long enough for you to hate me, Captain America’s only been out of the ice for a few years, and the others are just human, not wealthy. That leaves Tony Stark as the ‘powerful people’. Rich, male, white.”

_Bright. That’s how I described her. I have to give her credit for figuring it out so fast._ “You’re not wrong.”

“What happened that you hate him so much?” June asked.

No answer.

June prodded further. “Pietro…you can’t hate someone unless you have a legitimate reason to. You can’t just home in on a single part of someone and choose to hate or follow them based on that. You have to look at the grand scheme of things, the big picture.”

“I don’t see the big picture. I have a _little_ picture. I take it out and look at it…every day.”

June sighed. “You blame him for the death of your parents, don’t you?”

“You read about their deaths in the records, but the records are not the picture,” the Sokovian continued. “I was ten years old, having dinner the four of us. The first shell hits, two floors below, and it makes a hole in the floor. It’s big. My parents go in and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab my sister and roll under the bed, and the second shell hits. But it doesn’t go off. It just sits there in the rubble three feet from our faces. And on the side of that shell was painted one word.”

June and Enchantress both empathized heavily with the plight that Pietro suffered. Both women suffered fates that nobody should have. And all three of them had different reactions. Enchantress was tough enough to withstand the torment. June lost her innocence, though she didn’t lose her natural love of others. Pietro was seduced to the wrong side.

“Stark,” June anticipated. “How long were you trapped in there?”

“Two days.”

Silence. More silence. Nothing happened until Pietro sat down on the bed in the room.

“Stane,” June said.

“What?”

“Obadiah Stane. He was…I guess you could say he ran the company before Tony finally came of age. He was the one responsible for selling weapons to terrorists.”

“Doesn’t matter. Stark still was the one who made them.”

“Why don’t you let me finish?” June asked politely.

Pietro relented.

“Stane attempted to have Stark murdered in Afghanistan. Long story short, Tony eventually found out about what his weapons were being used for, and he became Iron Man to stop it and even stopped manufacturing weapons.”

Pietro glared at her with an ambiguous expression. His emotions were completely torn apart here. Part of him wanted to believe that June was deceiving him, but the other part told him that she had no reason to lie to him.

He dropped his head to the ground in concentration, trying to decide whether he should believe her or not. But in all honesty, it was difficult for Pietro to trust an ally of Tony Stark. Any ally of Stark would likely attempt to mitigate his involvement in such matters.

The Englishwoman took his lack of response as a cue to leave.

“Wait.”

June stopped.

“Why am I in this nice hotel room instead of a…prison?”

June looked at him tenderly. “You’re not a bad person. Even if you were, I don’t believe you’d deserve to be thrown in a tiny room in a huge inhumane unsanitary building. It’s not right, and it doesn’t work either. Unless you’ve committed genocide and rape on a massive scale, you deserve to be treated humanely.”

June promptly left right after her little speech.

Pietro believed her without a question. There was just something in her voice, something in her eyes that said that she truly believed what she was saying. He also took that as a hint that there weren’t any cameras hidden in the hotel room either.

Natasha watched the monitor, watched the entire conversation between June and Pietro through a small camera hidden in her shirt. As soon as June finished the conversation, Natasha walked out to meet her.

“I must say, I have _never _been more impressed at a rookie’s charm before,” the former KGB spy said.

June flicked her off.

“I’m serious. That was really good. You took my advice.”

“Didn’t sound like you were being serious,” June pointed out.

“My apologies.”

“Accepted.” The ladies backtracked a bit. “So, what do we do next?”

“We let him stay it off for the rest of the day alone. Tomorrow we do it again. We do it until I and the rest of the team, you and Enchantress included, believe that he’s safe enough to let out of the cell,” Natasha explained. “Now go have some fun, leave the stressful stuff to me.”

* * *

Nat continued examining the files on Strucker and the various experiments he did with the scepter on all the volunteers from Sokovia. It was horrendous just how many people died at HYDRA’s hands at that place. It was just a waste.

“Hello, Natasha.”

“Hello, Kiko.”

The samurai, without her mask, came into the room. “Need some help?”

“Sure.”

Kiko pulled up a chair. “What do we got?”

“Well, Sokovia isn’t a noteworthy country, but it’s getting there fast. More than a hundred people volunteered for Strucker’s experiments. Guess who were the only ones to survive.”

“Pietro and Wanda,” Kiko answered. “What exactly are their abilities?”

“Long answer? He’s got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. The girl’s thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.”

“So, he’s fast, and she’s weird,” Kiko dryly murmured.

“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.” Natasha now took the opportunity to say her piece about Kiko. “I gotta say, of all the people in this building, I never thought for one second that we’d ever get you.”

Kiko immediately took offense to that. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Nat said sincerely. “Let me rephrase. I never thought that we’d be able to locate you, let alone that you’d ever be offered a place as an Avenger.”

“I wonder if Nick Fury thought the same thing about you,” Kiko commented. When Nat looked at her in subtle surprise, Kiko said, “Yeah, I did my homework on S.H.I.E.L.D. I knew that my activities would probably get your attention.”

Nat smiled. “Yeah. We always knew your general location because criminal organizations had a habit of disappearing wherever you went.”

“I guess we both ended up on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar in less-than-desirable ways.” Kiko and Nat somberly looked into each other’s eyes. Nat wanted to say that Kiko at least didn’t murder innocent people like she did, but she chose not to. Natasha senses that Kiki was holding back hatred for Natasha, a hatred she shared for herself. She hated that part of her life, that murderous part of her existence…the one that robbed her of everything.

“Yeah, we did. And look where we are now,” Nat said. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” Kiko told her.

“When June does her enhancement thing with you, what’s it like? How does it feel?”

Kiko sat back and thought about her answer.

“It’s…hard to explain. I guess…you could think of it as an adrenaline surge, times a few thousand. You only feel the power, because it makes you resistant to damage and makes you incredibly strong.” Kiko hoped that her primitive explanation of the enhancement power of June would suffice. It did.

“Maybe I should give it a try.”

“I accept it sparingly. I don’t want to get used to being enhanced.”

Nat tilted her head quizzically. “Hmmm. Good point.”

* * *

A naked Pietro sat in the large bathtub to relieve tension from the previous day. The hot water over his nude body let all the muscles in his body loosen and stretch, it was like he could fall asleep. In fact, he nearly fell asleep a couple of times before he actually cleaned himself off and got out.

He only got his pants on when he heard a knock on the door.

“Is it safe for me to come in there?”

The superhuman hesitated. With a mischievous smile, he said, “Yes.”

He stood prominently against the wall, allowing June to get a full view of him. She clearly wanted to look away on instinct, but her eyes were glued to his abs and his chest. Her eyes kept scanning over his muscular yet proportionate physique.

“Excuse me… My eyes are up _here_,” he said with complete seriousness. Her face jerked back up to face him.

“_You_ said I could come in.”

“No. You asked me if it was safe to come in. It is. Unless my mind is playing tricks on me, you were the one who kicked my ass.”

An exasperated June sighed and said, “Whatever…”

“You’re here to keep sweet talking me, keep getting close to me, yeah? Did the redhead, Natasha, send you?”

“No, Natasha _doesn’t_ know that I’m here. Or…I didn’t tell her I was coming beforehand.”

“Oh, a sneaky girl, huh?”

The pair sit down at the table.

“I’m here to tell you a story.”

“This should be good. Should I get popcorn?” Pietro chuckled.

“But I first need to ask you a question. I’ve seen the records of your powerful protests against Stark and the Avengers as a whole, and I’ve seen just how much you hated us. But…unless you’re good at hiding it, you don’t seem to hate me at all. Why?”

He hesitated. “You’re too nice of a person to hate,” he said deflecting. The truth was that even _he _didn’t know why his hatred for the Avengers didn’t extend to include her.

June didn’t buy it for one second, but she didn’t push any further. She sat back and told her story. 

“Eons ago, out in the far reaches of the known universe, there existed this team of powerful sorcerers. Among them was a little girl who had no memory of her past. They travelled from planet to planet, finding worlds in which they could settle and bring advancement and blessing to the new worlds. The little girl discovered a world that not only had intelligent capabilities, but mystical ones too. She chose to stay in this world, and she guarded it from harm, adopting that native people as her own, who in turn worshipped her as a goddess. She gave them her grand knowledge of the stars and celestial powers.”

Pietro sat closer. At first, he thought she was pulling the usual, “that little girl was me spiel”, but it was clear to him at this point that this little girl may never have actually existed. However, he knew that there was a reason she was telling him this and paid close attention.

June continued. “Not long after this little girl adopted the world, a powerful alien entity appeared, one that could possess dead bodies. The little girl gathered a band of sorcerers and banished it into another dimension. However, some of the denizens of the planet splintered from the others and banded together with the sole purpose of orchestrating the creature’s return.”

_What kind of monster can possess dead bodies?_ Pietro thought.

“That group of renegades included people with extensive experience in the mystic arts. Together, they overpowered the benevolent goddess and sealed her away for thousands of years. From within her prison, she could only watch as the planet’s history played out before her, as the group that sealed her away grew into a rogue nation of terror and despair, inciting violence, wars, and calamities across the planet. The group adopted a name befitting its motto. _Cut off one head. Two more shall take its place._”

_Where is she going with this? She can’t be referring to…_

“This group homed in on a small country in an enormous three-continent landmass on this planet, where they fed riots to brainwash people into becoming subjects for human experiments, of which there were only two survivors.”

“One of those survivors is me. That planet was Earth,” Pietro carried on her story.

_“And that little girl was me.”_ Enchantress manifested herself in front of the bed.

“And that group’s name is HYDRA.”

A horrified Pietro sped over to the balcony. Enchantress vanished, and June stayed put to let the hothead cool off a little bit. He took only a few seconds until he came back.

“You’re telling me that this whole time, when I thought I was fighting for my country, fighting for what I thought was right…I was fighting for the people who wanted to bring down the world?” Pietro’s voice broke horribly.

With no other way to put it, June flatly told him yes. The blue speedster slowly ambled to the bed, demoralized and his entire foundation of belief shaken. The Englishwoman questioned herself as to why Pietro seemed to believe her without question…

“Why is it that you believe me so easily?” June asked.

“What, are you saying that I shouldn’t?” Pietro retorted.

“I _am_ telling you the truth, but I’m just surprised that you’re not questioning me about it. With how much you seem to hate us as a whole…”

“Your friend. The one with the sword.”

“Kiko?” June said in surprise. “What does this have anything to do with her?”

“She came by yesterday and clearly thought the same thing you did. She told me what to look for in you if you were lying. And as much as I hate to admit it, I’m pretty sure you were telling the truth.”

June wondered what made it so obvious that she was lying. She was smart enough to know that they probably wouldn’t tell her even if she asked.

“Can you please…just go?” Pietro requested sharply.

She followed his request, partly because her mind was too busy trying to wrap her head around how people can tell that she’s lying.

In fact, she was so entranced in trying to figure this out that she barely reacted to Natasha’s presence.

“I thought I told you that you were supposed to let me know when you were going in there.”

“Uh, yeah…sorry,” June muttered, barely even registering what Nat said or her response.

* * *

Kiko trained with her acrobatic moves and sword swipes in a personal training. Holograms flew at her, firing shots and throwing improvised weapons at her. She avoided all of them, some she deflected with her swords, and sliced through every enemy that manifested before her.

She left the training room, on instinct moving to clean off her sword. For a moment, she forgot that holograms didn’t bleed.

“Force of habit?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” Kiko answered.

“How’d you do in there?”

“Seventy enemies, seventy kills. No injuries. Good thing holograms are very bad shots,” she muttered. “Is there something you need?”

“June had a nice discussion with Maximoff earlier. I think she’s getting to him.”

“You say that like you sympathize with him,” Kiko pointed out.

“We’re the same. People who let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country, and then learned later that we were fighting for the wrong people.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked.

“My point is that the kid’s gonna need all of us to support him,” Cap clarified.

“I don’t hate him. He hasn’t done anything malevolent to anyone. You don’t have to worry about me. The people I hate are the people like Strucker, those who are responsible for the tormenting.”

She wasn’t lying, although she didn’t tell him that she did pass judgement towards him for allying himself with HYDRA. It wasn’t enough to make her hate him, but it was there.

* * *

Pietro glared at his reflection in the mirror. A huge part of him didn’t want to believe it, just like June suspected. However, Kiko told him some signs of when she was attempting to be deceptive. He wasn’t an expert by any means, but he was certain that she wasn’t lying.

That meant…that meant that he convinced his sister to ally themselves with a global terrorist cell. Not only that, but the terrorist cell manipulated them, making them believe that foreign powers were throwing the nation into turmoil.

The entire time that he and Wanda believed they were fighting the good fight; they were helping the very people who were responsible for the destabilization of his home.

“What have I done?” he murmured to himself.


	12. Chapter 12

June walked nervously and slowly down the hallway to the party. She thought she was alone, until Kiko came walking up behind her dressed in a formal kimono…which she had never done before.

“Since when do you wear those?”

“Ever since I got married and lost my husband. He liked it when I wore these.” Kiko spoke of her husband fondly, remembering the good times, not the harsh way in which she’d lost him.

“You look really beautiful.”

“So do you.” Kiko fixed up her friend’s hair and made her look stunning. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d like to learn what it means to have real fun.”

The women entered the party trying to avoid making a dramatic entrance.

“Oh finally,” Tony loudly interjected.

“Oh no,” Kiko and June said in unison.

“Ladies and gentlemen, finally we have the best event of the night thus far. Please say hello to the newest additions to the Avengers, June Moone and Akiko Yamashiro!”

The people applauded loudly, whistling…which probably had more to do with the women being attractive than badass fighters alongside the other Avengers.

“June, if you would please do the honor.”

“No, I’m not doing that!” June wanted to scream that before Enchantress stopped her.

_“No, let’s have some _real_ fun, just like Kiko said.”_

June sighed and relented. She walked alone to the perfect spot for a dramatic entrance for the ashen witch. She curled into a ball, letting her dress hang between her slightly parted knees. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths in preparation…and for dramatic effect. 

1

2

3

“Enchantress…”

The entire room rumbled slightly, the lights flickering. June’s body froze completely in place, not even any sign of breathing. The crowd closest to her were taken aback with the sudden appearance of black fingers appearing from beneath June’s white dress, fingers that clenched the dress and threw it backwards.

June completely vanished, and in her place, in an identical position, was the ashen witch. She sultrily stood up, hips swinging and hair flowing. She fiddled with her hair, fully taking advantage of her malevolent appearance. She refused to smile and breathed with a rasp, moving in an odd mixture of animalism and seduction.

The patrons of the party gazed at her nervously. The witch crouched down to assume a fully animalistic posture. The lights flickered again and again, adding to the ominous nature. By this point, the patrons were freaking out, and likely soiling their pants.

The witch screamed loudly, inhumanly, demonically. In doing so, the patrons stumbled over one another, falling off couches and dropping their glasses.

The witch laughed. _“That never fails to scare people.”_

_“Enchantress…”_

“Yeah…I probably should have warned you that she’d do that. She’s a lot more harmless than she looks,” Tony said sheepishly.

June smiled at the patrons. They all looked at her fearfully, equally as they did with Enchantress.

“Boo.” That one word was enough to scare them again. “Wow, I can’t believe it’s that easy to scare you guys. She didn’t even do anything to you guys.”

Nearby, a couple of people accidentally cut themselves on the broken glass. With a single magic gesture, white magic flowed from her hands to each person who was hurt, healing their cuts and scrapes in milliseconds. That seemed to be enough that the patrons weren’t terrified of her as much as a few seconds earlier.

Elsewhere in the room, Kiko and Natasha held a conversation, one where Kiko chose to express her own beliefs about Natasha.

“You should know that I would’ve hunted you down, had you not taken the path of redemption,” Kiko confesses.

“I know. Not that long ago, I would’ve been the one sent in to stop you before you even left North America,” Natasha claimed. “Probably would’ve been the fight of my life.”

“You got that right.” Kiko took a long drink. “What exactly inspired you to take a redemptive path?”

“I never wanted to be what I became. I grew up in the Red Room. Trained me to be one of the deadliest women in the world. I can’t say for sure, but I bet you’re one of only two people who could’ve killed me.” Natasha gestures towards Clint. “He was sent to kill me. He made a different call.”

“I didn’t think I’d have a body count in the hundreds when I grew up. I thought I’d be a family woman. Someone who’d have children, a husband, and a normal boring mundane life. And then…he was murdered. But you already know that,” Kiko apple with repressed sorrow for the loss of her old life.

“At least you had the choice,” Natasha said.

“You have a choice. We all do.”

“I don’t.” Kiko noticed Natasha…almost crying. There were no hints of tears in Natasha’s eyes, but it was painfully clear that Nat was holding them back.

Kiko had her suspicions about what Natasha was referring to. As a woman, Kiko felt pained that Nat’s choice was robbed from her. The choice to have a family or not. Kiko couldn’t summon the strength to bring up the topic further.

* * *

“‘Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power.’ Whatever, man! It’s a trick,” Clint giddily believes that lift Thor’s Mjölnir wasn’t based on worthiness.

Enchantress senses the enchantment on the hammer definitely was one based on the purity of heart. Few individuals could come even close to the necessary requirements for it. Not to say that it would be completely unachievable, but it was a high bar to pass. Enchantress believed that not even June might be that pure at the moment.

“Please, be my guest,” Thor challenged.

Clint attempted to lift the hammer. Of course, he couldn’t, much to Thor’s amusement.

“I still don’t know how you do it!” Clint laughed.

Tony was the next one to try. “Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?”

“Yes, of course,” Thor said. June couldn’t be sure if he was joking with a serious tone or not.

“I will be reinstituting prima nocta,” Tony said.

A highly offended and disgusted June stood up and left. “Alright, I’m not gonna stand in the same room as a man who just made a fucking rape joke.”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down, Mrs. White Witch, I’m kidding,” Tony defended.

“And rape is _not_ a subject for which to joke.” June ignored Tony. An equally disgusted, though much more contained, Kiko followed her out of the room. Kiko was highly disgusted by the lack of response from everyone else. A little bit insulting considering that there are _three_ other women in this room.

At least Helen Cho had the excuse that she was sleeping.

Enchantress was rather impressed with June’s slight outburst. She teleported in front of June and Kiko, sitting in midair. _“I appreciate your lack of hesitance in expressing your opinion. It seems that sexual discrimination is a problem in this modern world.”_

“Weren’t they always?” Kiko asked.

_“Yes and no. Discrimination has always been ever present, but in many different forms. Sexism was present, but far less institutionalized. Put quite simply, some places were worse, others lived in the wrong era.”_

June continued ahead. She was perfectly fine with Tony’s innuendo jokes, but that was crossing a line. A significant line. June had faced harassment before, and someone, an _Avenger_ no less, joking about it was a sure fire way to get under her skin.

June fled back to a comfortable bedroom. She changed out of her dress and put on some more comfortable clothes. Kiko entered the room when June told her it was safe to come in. June was flopped on the bed in the room. She covered herself with the sheets, giving Kiko some privacy to change herself.

Before either of them could fall asleep, a loud shrill noise rang through the room. Not just the room, but the entire building in its entirety. The sound even woke up a sleeping Pietro.

It was fleeting and brief, but more than enough to alarm the trio of women. A path of slick black oil outside the door did not help any.

Enchantress joined the other women outside June’s body, and Kiko grabbed her sword. They followed the trail of oil back to the party room. They walked in on a buggy Legionnaire suit speaking with the other avengers.

“You killed someone?” Cap asked.

“Wouldn’t have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we’re faced with ugly choices,” the suit said.

“Who sent you?” Thor asked.

“I see a suit of armor around the world.” That wasn’t…this robot’s voice. That was Tony’s voice. What was going on?

“Ultron,” Bruce said.

“In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I’m ready. I’m on mission,” Ultron rambled.

“What mission?” Natasha asked.

“Peace in our time.” In the instant Ultron said those words, the rest of the Legionnaire burst through the wooden wall in attack formation. Kiko and June immediately took shelter behind the pillars. Enchantress stood her ground and wrecked any suits that came close to her.

The other Avengers fled and fought as needed. The humans immediately took shelter, but Rhodey was thrown through a window. The rest all hid away from the blasts from the suits. Maria Hill and Natasha fought off the suits with their sidearms. The scientist Helen Cho simply hid away, horrified for her life.

June and Kiko emerged from hiding. June conjured shields for Kiko to use as stepping stones to jump and slice through one of the suits. June crushed another suit in her shields. The others read June as the main threat and attacked her at once, forcing her to protect herself.

This gave the other Avengers a chance to smash them to bits. Cap sliced one with a powerful shield throw, Thor wrecked another one, Enchantress destroyed another by overloading it with electricity, and Tony stabbed one in the neck, disabling it.

The other suits were busy trying to kill Natasha, Bruce, and Hill. Kiko and Cap came to help them, leaping around, shield and sword in accord. They swiftly wrecked the remaining suits with no casualties on their side.

Outside the building, the rest of the Legionnaire flew away with the scepter. Pietro watched from the balcony as one of them came down to him, only to be stopped by the force field spell enacted by Enchantress. It futilely attempted to enter, but it eventually gave Pietro up as a lost cause.

“That was dramatic,” Ultron said. For being a robot, it had quite a human voice. It expressed legitimate sarcasm. “I’m sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn’t think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to evolve? There’s only one path to peace. The Avengers’ extinction.”

Thor threw his hammer at the flunky suit destroying.

Its last words were, “I had strings, but now I’m free.”

* * *

Up in the tower’s lab, June tended to the injured Rhodes and Hill, who had suffered minor injuries. The other Avengers did some investigating, and discovered something horrifying.

Ultron cleared out every file the Avengers had. Not just on himself, but on everything they ever knew, even about the members themselves. As Natasha put it, Ultron probably knew more about the Avengers then they knew about each other. The work was all gone, erased, purged from the drives.

Rhodes expressed concern that Ultron might try to access something else, something far more dangerous, like nuclear codes. One thing that Steve noticed was that Ultron specifically said “extinct” in reference to the Avengers.

“He said he killed somebody,” Clint said.

“It wasn’t Pietro. I checked on him downstairs. Very much alive, if shaken up,” June said.

“There wasn’t anyone else in the building,” Hill said.

“Yes, there was.” Tony produced a hologram. It was orange, and it looked completely shredded. There were hints of blue glowing in the orange. Ultron destroyed Jarvis. That was who Ultron said he killed. The other guy.

“Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would’ve shut Ultron down. It makes sense,” Steve said.

Bruce had other thoughts. “No. Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn’t strategy. This is rage.”

That emotion, like laughter, was rather contagious. The already angered June became even more angry at Tony. First his offhand rape joke, then this. Turned out that Thor didn’t appreciate what Tony did either. He stomped into the room and grabbed Tony by the throat.

_“Thor, please don’t beat him to death. I would like a chance to do something to him, too..”_ Enchantress was more than eager to taste some of Tony’s blood. She thought she made a huge mistake entrusting the scepter to him.

“No one is beating anyone to a pulp. Thor, the Legionnaire,” Steve diffused the situation before June could speak up against Enchantress. June nodded towards Steve, thanking him for talking the witch down.

Thor dropped Tony. “Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it’s headed north. And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again.”

_“I made a mistake trusting you humans with this scepter.”_

“Hey, Miss Ashy Witch? I find it hilarious. It is a hoot that you don’t get why we need this,” Tony said.

“Tony, maybe this might not be the time,” Bruce warned.

“Really? That’s it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?” Tony mocked.

“Only when I’ve created a murder bot,” Bruce dismissed.

“We didn’t. We weren’t even close. Were we close to an interface?” Tony was all alone in his argument.

“You did something right, and you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D.” Steve was not happy about Tony going behind everyone’s back, to say the least.

Tony gave a speech that no one interrupted. “Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole? Saved New York? Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. Were standing 300 feet below it. We’re the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there. That’s the endgame. How are you guys planning on beating that?”

“Together,” Steve responded.

“We’ll lose,” Tony stated.

“Then we’ll do that together, too,” Steve repeated.

_“We should speak with our friend downstairs.”_ June realized she was the only one that heard Enchantress’s words. Her mental voice…sounded concerned rather than angry.

* * *

“Why would you think I’d know anything about this?” Pietro was exasperated with June and Enchantress questioning him about this.

_“You have nothing to do with it. What I believe is that your sister is indirectly involved in this,”_ the witch explained.

“How?” Pietro asked.

_“Among my abilities is to glance through memories. I am not like your sister. I have no control over that which you may think or to conjure fears. I looked into Stark’s mind and memories. I saw something.”_

The world around them faded until it was nothing but blackness. The only two visible things were Pietro and June. The illusion shifted into something else, a galactic landscape. Below their feet, rocks formed, until the formation and the illusion were complete.

A sweaty and horrified Tony walked up the galactic landscape, finding everyone, all the Avengers, dead or dying font of him. Everyone, even the Hulk himself, all dead. Not just that, but Captain America’s vibranium shield was split cleanly in two pieces.

A despondent Tony knelt next to the body of Steve. Turned out he wasn’t dead just yet. Steve grabbed Tony’s arm and said one last painful sentence.

“You could have saved us.”

Numerous voices emerged from the nothingness around. The voices asked Tony why he didn’t do more. Just repeating it over and over again, with no reprieve. And then he saw the portal, the same kind that opened over New York City, except that this portal was much larger, opening well into space, leading straight to Earth with numerous Chitauri leviathans flying through. The invasion was unstoppable.

And then the illusion ended.

_“I saw that vision in Stark’s memories. It wasn’t a simple thought, it was a complete hallucination. And hallucinations always have something behind them. Trauma and disorder, but Tony has only one, and not strong enough to produce such a vivid vision. I believe this was one triggered by your sister, Pietro. I want…I need to know why.”_

Pietro sighed in defeat, and admitted, “I can’t say anything for sure. I never asked her about it.”

“She’s your sister. Just think, what did she say, even in a conversation you just happened to overhear?” June encouraged softly.

“You said you can look into memories,” Pietro said to Enchantress. “Why don’t you just do that now?”

_“I’m giving you the choice to tell us.”_

Pietro remembered something. “I remember…something about self-destruction. She mentioned a couple of times that fears control people, make them self-destruct.”

_“Looks like her ploy worked. A little _too_ well. Now we have a murderous automaton roaming around the internet.”_

* * *

** _Novi Grad, Sokovia_ **

Wanda walked up to the church in town. Some young boy came up to her, telling her that the iron man wanted to speak with her. She saw that the boy wasn’t referring to Tony Stark, but that begged the question as to whom he _was_ referring.

Her mental judgements were partially impaired by the pain she carried from the loss of her brother. She knew he was still alive, but could sense his anguish through her natural bond with him. Wanda felt his pain, his suffering. Whatever the Avengers were doing to him, it was killing him. If not physically, it was emotional torment of the most horrid.

Wanda had to contain herself as much as possible. If she let her anger and sorrow at her brother’s plight take her over, she’d likely end up turning everything in a twenty-foot radius disintegrate. It would take naught but a single wrongdoing against push her over the edge, and her magic explode. She made sure that the man before her had an idea about who he was dealing with.

“Talk. And if you’re wasting my time—”

“Did you know this church is in the exact center of the city? The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief.”

Who was this guy? Whoever he was, Wanda found that he was one of the hard ones to read. But the better question was why he was telling her something she already knew, spelling out the obvious. This American-accented man wasn’t starting off with a good first impression.

“You’re wondering why you can’t look inside my head,” the man said.

“Sometimes it’s hard. But sooner or later every man shows himself,” Wanda stated.

The man stood up…revealing that he wasn’t a man at all. It was Ultron, manifested in an enormous physical body.

“I’m sure they do. But you needed something more than a man. That’s why you let Stark take the scepter,” Ultron continued.

Wanda had many ideas in mind for what Stark’s self-destruction would be, but this…an enormous robot who spoke and acted more human than a lot of real humans wasn’t anywhere on the list. Wanda was wary of him…or it…or whatever. Reading minds meant that she lost her more mundane ability to read others by behavior. 

“I didn’t expect…but I saw Stark’s fear. I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct,” Wanda said.

“Everyone creates the thing they dread, men of peace create engines of war. Invaders create Avengers. People create…smaller people? Children! I lost the word there. Children, designed to supplant them, to help them end.” Wanda quickly took note of Ultron’s disturbingly human personality, and the fact that he had a penchant for grand speeches.

“Is that why you’ve come? To end the Avengers?” Wanda asked.

“I’ve come to save the world. But also…yeah. I should have you know, I did try to get your brother out of Avengers Tower. They have him contained in a mystical barrier. I couldn’t get to him. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll get him back. And I’ll make them pay for whatever they’re doing to him,” Wanda said, her eyes glowing red.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this chapter onwards, I am adopting a more cinematic form of writing. Scenes vary in length, some short and brief, some are longer and will include numerous perspective changes around the characters, especially when there is large amounts of action. Anytime there's a location change, I will just tell you in blod italic letters after a dividing line. Makes it easier on me so that the story remains uniinterrupted with unneeded descriptions of various areas.

Not even 24 hours after Ultron’s awakening, and he was already wreaking havoc across the world. Didn’t help that he was literally everywhere. The internet wasn’t just a superhighway system for him, but it allowed him to be omnipresent. He was nowhere and everywhere at once.

Any place that had any kind of weapons facility or technological information on hand was attacked by an army of robots and many of them were thrown around by an unseen force, or they faced old memories and their worst fears. They would come in and empty the place of resources. When engaged, fatalities occurred.

Steve thought that it made sense that Ultron would go to her, as they had someone in common. Except not. The one person they had in common, Baron von Strucker, was assassinated by Ultron, and his blood painted the word “peace” on his prison cell wall.

“This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you’ve just given a speech?” Natasha asked.

“Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss,” Steve said.

“And…yep. Everything we had on Strucker’s been erased,” Natasha confirmed.

“Not everything,” Steve said.

Steve was right. Electronic files and records can be erased, but paper records can’t. The Avengers went old school, digging through all of Strucker’s associates. They were all horrendous people, murderers, human traffickers, weapons traffickers, the whole gamut.

“These were the kinds of people I spent years hunting down and killing,” Kiko said.

“We have files on them too if you want to see,” Natasha offered with a slight smirk. Kiko smiled back at her.

Everyone spent over an hour sifting through files, but nobody seemed to recognize anything or anyone that could be connected. Enchantress was the quickest, telekinetically flipping through pages, using her much faster perception speed to read through the files.

As a Kiko flipped through her files, she recognized one of them. Someone named Ulysses Klaue. She gasped in profound realization, much to the surprise of the rest of the team. For several seconds, Kiko said nothing.

“Did you find something?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, I think I know what Ultron wants. Remember that he said ‘evolve’? Well, unless he’s a hypocrite, he’ll want to evolve too,” Kiko said.

_“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”_

“His name is Ulysses Klaue.” Kiko showed everyone the file.

Tony recognized him. “He’s a black market arms dealer off the coast of Africa form back in the day. Always talking about a massive game-changer. It was all very Ahab.”

Thor and Enchantress noticed something about Ulysses’s features. “What does this brand mean?”

_“I’ve never seen it before.”_

Kiko said, “It’s a word in an African that means ‘thief’.”

_“Which dialect?”_

“Wakanda.” Tony and Steve realized that Kiko was right.

“What’s so special about Wakanda?” Bruce asked.

“Its main resource is the strongest metal on Earth. The same metal dissolved into my sword, the one that makes up Cap’s shield. Vibranium,” Kiko said.

“Now I get it. Evolve. Ultron is going to build himself a new body made from the strongest and most indestructible metal in existence,” Natasha said.

_“Where is he now?”_

“A salvage yard off the coast of South Africa. I was tracking him for a long time. When I learned he was stealing vibranium from Wakanda, I couldn’t stand by. I would’ve gone after him had I not been caught up in HYDRA’s schemes.” Kiko hated that such a sacred metal was pillaged out of yet another poor African nation, as had been done throughout most of history.

“When do we leave?” June said.

“No, you need to stay here, make sure that Maximoff doesn’t escape. We have no idea what Ultron is capable of now. If we’re all out of the Tower, he might try to free him,” Steve ordered.

June wasn’t exactly keen on being forced to stay behind. However, she knew that Steve could be right. Enchantress’s spell was powerful, but not completely unbreakable. Ultimately she conceded to his order.

“I can’t believe you guys are gonna have all the fun without me,” June said.

_“Don’t worry. I’ll bring back a nice story for you.”_

“I guess that’s better than nothing.” June walked away like a pouty child.

* * *

** _Shipyard, Africa_ **

“Aw, junior. You’re gonna break your old man’s heart.”

Tony, decked out in his armor, stood alongside Thor and Captain America. Elsewhere in the ship, Kiko, now codenamed Katana, alongside Hawkeye and Black Widow stealthily snuck through the ship, ready to help and ambush as needed.

While the group waited to make their move, Kiko said a prayer to the sword, to the soul of her deceased husband. It was always the same promise that she would reiterate in her own language. If she were to fall in battle, she would ensure that she would be with her husband once again. By self-inflicting a fatal strike with her sword, adding her own soul to the sword.

Her exact words were, “My dear husband, if I die in battle, we will finally be together.”

Unknown to her, Clint understood everything, having learned the language.

“I don’t think that’s what he’d want,” he said, in Japanese to Kiko, much to her shock.

“What would you know? You have no idea what it is like, having the one you loved most in your hands yet forever out of reach,” Kiko said, this time in English.

“I don’t. And I pray I never do. But I would never want my family to condemn their souls to a prison. I’d want them to move on to…whatever afterlife there is. It has to be better than what’s in that sword.” Clint’s words resonated well with Kiko.

It terrified her, because now she considered what her husband might have wanted for her, she was so determined that she’d be with her husband that she never stopped to consider what her husband might have wanted for her. Kiko knew what she wanted, to be with her loving husband.

Natasha couldn’t help but glance empathetically towards the pair. The wish to be with loved ones…the problem being that for her, those were mostly nonexistent. The closest thing she ever had to family was Clint. He was family to her.

“I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but I don’t think this is the right time or place for this.” Natasha feared that she sounded like a complete asshole, something that was evident in her face.

“She’s right. There’s a time and place for this, and it isn’t now,” Kiko agreed. “We can discuss things at a later time.”

It was perfect timing to end the conversation. At the very same time she ended the conversation, Ultron attacked the Avengers. Thor, Cap, and Iron Man dealt with Ultron directly, but the others had to deal with Klaue’s lowly workers and fighters. They made for little struggle. Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Katana all dealt with them swiftly.

A mixture of martial arts and combat pragmatism with stun knuckles made it easy for the almost waif-like Black Widow to wipe the floors with guys far larger than herself. No one stood a chance against the deadliest mortal woman on Earth.

Hawkeye sniped away from a corner, shooting one enemy after the other. They never had a chance to see him and fight back. Enemies fell to the ground, dead from arrows. Some of them tried to run, but it was a futile effort against the greatest archer.

Finally, Katana sliced through enemies like they were butter. Her sword cut them apart into nothing. Her enemies’ weapons were ineffective. No weapon could do anything if they didn’t touch her, and Katana was so quick to slice and kill that few enemies had a chance to shoot at her. Any enemies that did met their end with a throwing knife, or Katana throwing her sword itself, impaling them from a distance.

Only one put up anything of a significant fight, a man with a machine gun. He rounded around a corner, pinning her behind some barrels. She focused all of her mental and physical focus into the man, looking for a weakness. Rapid firing was too much for her to dodge all at once.

Something happened…something changed inside of her. Soultaker started releasing its skull aura. A strange power flowed through her body, and her eyes turned pitch black. The world slowed down around her.

She felt her husband…actually felt him touching her. His voice spoke to her in Japanese.

“You’ve done it. You have the true power of this blade.” The words were vague and unclear. Kiko’s husband didn’t say anything else.

Kiko saw the bullets flying. Wait…she could _see_ them. Physically see them flying through the air. This is similar to when June would give her an energy boost. But…different. When June boosted Kiko, it was like a drug…which was why she only used it sparingly. This one didn’t have that effect. It was a simple boost, nothing addicting about it.

Realizing her newfound power, Kiko rose. She faced down the machine gun fire. Every bullet that came her way, she deflected them with her sword. The bullets shattered and dissipated into nothingness, as she approached the hapless gunman. From her perspective, she was slowly walking up to him.

From his perspective, she was moving like lightning. Nowhere near the speed of Pietro, but fast nonetheless. She beheaded the warrior in one sword stroke. And then the strength spell ended.

Kiko, completely caught by surprise, gazed into her sword with complete curiosity. In her moment of human weakness, Wanda snuck up behind Kiko and hexed Kiko’s mind with her powers. 

The world around her distorted and faded from her. It distorted into a different place…into Kiko’s home. The last home she shared with her husband…her beloved Maseo. The man who stole her heart, back when it was innocent…before she became the vigilante assassin who hunted down criminal enterprises. Kiko noticed that her clothes were normal, not her battle attire.

And then he was there in front of her, speaking to her like nothing ever happened.

“Hey baby…where’ve you been all day. I’ve been waiting for you.” Maseo stood up and embraced Kiko. Her body responded independently of her mind, embracing him back. Her body was moving, yet Kiko had no control over anything.

This idyllic vision…it faded into an inferno. For a brief instance, it was everything on fire, just like that day, the day Kiko lost him.

And then the vision was of a nursery, one they never had. They planned on having a family, yet it was Maseo’s own blood that prevented that, his own brother. Out of spite and jealousy that became the flames the annihilated her home and destroyed her life.

Visions played out in flashes, like images in a slideshow. Images of the life she imagined for herself. A child, maybe more than one. They’d grow up, graduate, find love. Kiko and her husband would grow old and have grandchildren, see them grow up. And then peacefully die in the presence of loved ones.

But…every image, every beautiful image, was set aflame. The images of her children, set aflame, melting their eyes and flesh, making it slough off their bodies until they were nothing more than black skeletons.

The graduations, all lighting aflame, burning every cloth to nonexistence. What was once a beautiful ceremony becoming a hellish landscape…almost like a church with all the dark skeletons in sitting positions, the skulls in perpetual unnatural wide grins.

And then her old husband and old self, flames encircling until—

“Hey, hey. Come on. We gotta go.” It was Clint. His voice…it helped pull her out of dark scene. Kiko still witnessed her idyllic visions of an alternate life burn and turn to ash, but Hawkeye’s voice was a rock in the river, a rock that she held onto.

He pulled over his left shoulder, as a hexed Black Widow was on the other side already, he helped carry the, out of the ship.

* * *

** _Avengers Tower, New York City_ **

June could only watch the television in horror, watching in horror, the destructive power of the Hulk. This was why Bruce always kept himself in control. All the buildings, all the terrorized people. This was all wrong.

Enchantress was standing right there with June. She wished that they had seen this news report a couple hours earlier. Had that been the case, Enchantress could have tried to help out, and use her magic to stop the rampage. But alas, they did not know of this until after the fact.

The ashen witch glared at the screen, her eyes glowing with ominous light. This was her at her most enraged. She was horrified and enraged at what happened. She knew that the little witch did all of this. She hexed all the Avengers and sent the Hulk on a violent rampage through Johannesburg. June was alarmed beyond words when the witch teleported away.

June sprinted down the stairs. She sprinted as fast as she could to keep Enchantress from doing something brash. Just as June suspected, Enchantress was about to take her anger out on the next best thing since she couldn’t do anything to a witch that she couldn’t find.

Enchantress was holding the speedster by his throat against a wall. She had her fist balled up, charged with her magic. If Enchantress were to punch Pietro right now, he’d be instantly killed. Whatever Pietro was saying, it went right over June’s head, not helped with Pietro being choked so badly that he could barely even speak.

_“Don’t try to stop me, June!”_

“Enchantress, please listen to me. He had nothing to do with this,” June told her.

_“Haven’t you seen what his sister is responsible for? She brainwashed the Hulk with the intent of tainting his image, make him look like a monster.”_

“Yes, his sister is directly responsible for that. But what is this gonna do?” June pulled up a barrier around the witch’s magic-infused hand.

_“Help me learn why that woman would endanger so many lives?”_

“I don’t know why she would do that. Especially after what we went through,” Pietro said.

Enchantress dropped him and let him catch his breath. June felt like she could breathe again. She encased Pietro in a shield, just to make sure Enchantress wouldn’t try to do anything else to him.

_“He’s telling the truth.”_

June knelt next to Pietro. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I have no idea what’s gotten into my sister’s head. She would never do that, endanger unless she had a reason for it, or unless she needed to,” Pietro claimed. What Pietro only thought, rather than said, was “I hope.” He hoped that his sister hadn’t become a true terrorist.

Enchantress heard his slight doubt and was completely reassured. The fact that Pietro was doubting that his sister was still a good person…only a person with a truly good heart could consider that.

_“Please forgive me, Pietro.”_

“I think you two already know, me and my sister aren’t exactly forgiving,” Pietro muttered.

_“Save the humor for later. What do we do now?”_

Now that they stopped, what were they going to do? They had no idea where the team was going, nor what they were planning to do. Better yet, they had no idea if the team even had any plan in mind. Was there anything?

The Avengers, particular Bruce, were pretty much pariahs. There were few places where they could go. If they did go somewhere, it would be somewhere in the middle of nowhere, where neighbors might be at the very least ten miles apart. And that was most of the world.

June and Enchantress walked to the door. Pietro stopped them.

“Wait. Maybe I can help,” he insisted.

“Why would we just let you walk around? You might just try to run right back to your sister given the first opportunity,” June retorted. “After all, given the circumstances, we may have no choice but to kill Wanda. We don’t need you getting in the way if it comes to that.”

Pietro’s face twisted from concern to complete outrage. “You both fucking listen to me. My sister is not a bad person, she’s misguided. No one is going to lay a fucking hand on her…she’s all I have left.”

June was taken aback by the vulgar words he used. She glanced at Enchantress, who promptly snapped her fingers, conjuring chain vambraces around Pietro’s wrists.

_“That was a test. You passed. Come,” _Enchantress ordered.

“Wait, what do you mean?” This sudden mood shift from calm to harsh to calm again almost gave Pietro emotional whiplash.

_“We both know you want to help, that was a simple way of seeing what kind of person you are. You’ve learned from your errors, and you’re very protective of the ones you love. That was June’s way of making sure you weren’t faking…without my telepathic input.”_

Pietro nodded lightly. He didn’t fully understand witch’s explanation but he didn’t question it. He followed after the two women.

“Go on ahead, we’ll catch up.” Enchantress followed June’s request and warped to Hill.

“You know, I could just carry you up there myself faster than you can blink. But…I can’t for some reason. Is it these…things?” Pietro said.

“Yes. We may have let you out, but she is taking no chances,” June explained. She anticipated Pietro’s confusion. “Yes, Enchantress has telepathy, but it’s only immediate. You’re certain that you want to help, but you’re just as human as I am. Prone to lapses in judgement that can have profound impacts. I would know.”

The Sokovia native looked at her expectantly.

“A lapse in judgement is the reason I’m here. Think about it. I went to Peru on my own. I left on a trek through a vast jungle on my own, with nobody knowing where I was. That was a very stupid thing for me to do, even though I’m not normally so foolish.” Pietro looked around in thought, pondering on June’s words.

Enchantress never criticized June for the stupidity of traversing a wilderness by herself because it was why Enchantress finally got out of the caverns. But June still wondered what would’ve happened had she not run into that cave. So many possible things could have happened, and the one thing that did was that she found the cave that HYDRA wanted to hide. That one occurrence, and all of this happened. Fate…had a weird way of doing things to certain people.

Pietro and June walked in on a conversation between Hill and the Avengers. They arrive just in time to hear Hill’s last words.

“Until we can find Ultron, I don’t have a lot else to offer,” Hill said.

“Neither do we.” Tony, she was speaking with Tony.

Hill didn’t bat an eye seeing Pietro walking around outside of his luxury prison cell.

“How are they?” June asked.

“Not good. They took one hell of a hit,” Hill said. “They’re gonna lay low for a bit, till we can find Ultron.”

“We have any idea where they might be headed?” Pietro asked.

_“We don’t, but somebody here does.”_

“Somebody? Who?” June wondered.

“Miss Moone, so nice to finally meet you and your witch friend in person.” June automatically knew who this person was. She turned around to face him. She wondered when she finally would get to meet the man who founded the Avengers.

“And you’re the legendary Nick Fury. What an honor.”

Fury shook her hand firmly. He glanced suspiciously towards Pietro.

“Now, if none of you mind, we have somewhere to be,” Fury said.


	14. Chapter 14

** _Rural Missouri_ **

June looked around in awe and joy seeing the beautiful countryside. The trees and the fields, all undisturbed by human development. So rare to see these days. It reminded June of Europe, where landscapes like this are commonplace. Drive around for hours through more and more beautiful countryside. The morning sun only made it look even more beautiful.

“So beautiful, just like home,” June muttered.

“Yes, it is,” Pietro agreed. He looked at her and smiled. June almost couldn’t take her eyes off him. He looked nice smiling.

Enchantress, from within June, chuckled slightly at the cute exchange.

Fury pulled up to a farm, a large property. Nearby was the quinjet. The Avengers were already here. Fury parked a good distance away from the house, somewhere the car couldn’t be seen.

“What is this place?” June asked.

“A close friend’s home. You kids go on ahead to the house. I’m gonna head in the barn and make a little bit of a dramatic entrance,” Fury told them, to June’s humor.

When she and Pietro made it to the house, Pietro stayed back and let June be the one to approach Tony and Steve. They were cutting apart logs near to the house. The moment the pair spotted June and Pietro approaching, they immediately turned hostile. As did Clint, who came running out of the house beyond enraged.

“How did you know to come here?” Clint demanded.

_“You know I can read thoughts.”_ Enchantress emerged from nowhere, startling Clint a little._ “You think about this place all the time. You needed a place to lay low, I made a guess.”_

Clint accepted Enchantress’s half truth. She did know about this place, and suspected that they might come here. She lied to conceal Fury’s presence.

_“Don’t worry about Pietro. He wants to help.”_

“How do you know he won’t try to run?” Clint asked.

_“You see those vambraces? Those will prevent him from using his supernatural speed. Only I can remove them.”_

“I don’t care if he’s crippled or not, he’s not coming in the house,” Clint demanded.

“Hey…” A pregnant woman walked up to the house. She requested, “Mr. Stark. Sorry, our tractor isn’t working. Would you be so kind as to…?”

“Yeah, of course. Don’t take from my pile.” June chuckled. Tony’s pile of logs was a bump on the ground compared to the mountain next to Steve. When he walked away, the situation returned to the real problem.

“He’s not coming in the house,” Clint repeated about Pietro.

“Barton. Kid’s had his whole world turned upside down. Plus, don’t you think that Enchantress would know if he couldn’t be trusted?” June was more than surprised that Steve was so readily on Pietro’s side.

Clint and Pietro retained their hostility for each other. However, they seemed to bury the hatchet for the time being. But June didn’t have time to babysit these man-children. She ran into the house looking for Kiko. June found Kiko laying down in an upstairs guest bedroom, breathing heavily and facing away from the door.

Natasha was with her sitting on the bed behind her. They were clutching each other’s hands, tightly. Natasha’s face looked just as pained as Kiko’s body.

Natasha looked at June briefly. There was no sense of surprise or shock at June’s presence, just a mere acknowledgment at her presence.

June walked around the bed. Kiko’s face was even more dejected than Natasha’s, but it lit up, even if slightly, when June came around. Kiko lifted her head enough that June could slide her legs under her, letting Kiko use her as a pillow. June stroked Kiko’s hair, massaging her scalp the way that she knew she loved.

Enchantress walked into the room, her heart warming at the sight of these women comforting one of their own. She joined them, levitating off the edge of the bed in a sitting position. The witch sensed something new about Kiko, but knew that this was not an appropriate moment to mention it.

Enchantress conjured a small ball of magic that entered Kiko’s body and lulled her to sleep. She could only do this to people who were calm. It was such a weak spell that it had no use in combat. She did the same for June and Natasha. Enchantress decided to get some rest herself, and reentered June’s body.

They slept soundly for about an hour, when Steve came to check on them, accidentally waking them up.

“Hey. You guys alright?” Steve asked softly after they woke up.

“Yeah. Better now,” Natasha answered. Kiko nodded in agreement.

“I’m fine. I just have a lot of bad breath swirling in my mouth now,” June muttered.

“Hurry and go freshen up a bit.” Steve walked away with Natasha following.

Kiko and Natasha followed Steve downstairs where everyone else was waiting, even Pietro, though he was distant from the others. They decided to get right down to business, someone could simply fill in the blanks for the currently absent June. It was made a lot easier when Enchantress teleported into the room.

Fury started, “Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he’s building something. The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don’t think it’s just one thing.”

“What about Ultron himself?” Steve asked.

“Oh, he’s easy to track. He’s everywhere. Guy’s multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn’t help us on any of his plans, though,” Fury muttered.

“He still going after the launch codes?” Tony asked.

“Yes, he is. But he’s not making any headway.” All eyes turned to Fury, expecting him to say more.

“I cracked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare,” Tony boasted. Enchantress didn’t have to read his thoughts to determine if he was being honest. With his technology skills, she’d believe anything he said about technology’s capabilities.

“Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that,” Fury told him.

“Nexus?” Steve said cluelessly. Still displaced in time, he was.

“It’s the world internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth,” Bruce described.

_“In my world, a Nexus is a gathering of magical energy.” _

“Why am I not surprised?” Bruce murmured.

“So, what’d they say?” Clint asked.

“He’s fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed,” Fury said.

“By whom?” Three darts whizzed right past his head, onto a target’s bull’s eye, darts thrown by Clint.

“Do we have an ally?” Natasha asked.

“Ultron’s got an enemy. That’s not the same thing,” Fury reminded her.

_“I don’t think so. I’ve seen a lot of history, and most of it does not revolve around a climate of deceit, secrecy, and lies. The saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ rings quite true the vast majority of the time,”_ Enchantress described.

“You’ve been living in a doll for millennia, you have no idea what the world is like,” Fury said.

_“From that doll, I saw a lot. Thirteen territories on the east coast of this continent gaining independence, outbreak after outbreak destroying the native peoples of this hemisphere, the Twin Towers being constructed and destroyed, the pyramids in Egypt being built. Do not try to tell me that I know nothing of the world I adopted.” _Enchantress spoke in a contained voice, but her offense at Fury’s comment was very apparent.

“Sorry,” Fury said.

“I might need to visit Oslo. Find our unknown,” Tony said.

“Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you’d have more than that,” Natasha commented.

“I do. I have you. Back in the day I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are back on Earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard.” Nice speech from Fury. The others were right, Fury had a way with words. Concise as needed, effective as possible.

“Steve doesn’t like that kind of talk,” Natasha said.

“You know what, Romanoff?”

Enchantress even smiled at this. Behind her, June came downstairs, freshened up and now awake.

“So, what does he want?” Fury said.

“To become better. Better than us,” Steve confirmed.

Tony continued Steve’s line of thought. “He keeps building bodies. Person bodies. The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we’re outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it.”

_“I don’t know why these people call you smart, Tony. There is a very good reason why humans are apex predators. First, the amount of bone compared to your soft flesh means that killing and eating even large groups of humans is not energy efficient. Second, human interaction means that you can trap and kill animals that other apex predators fear. Third, humans have the greatest endurance of any species on this planet. I’ve seen hunter clans that could last for over a hundred miles at a constant pace. That is why I adopted them, protected them.” _

Pietro found it within him to chuckle.

Bruce remembered something. “They don’t need to be protected. They need to evolve. Ultron’s going to evolve.”

“How?” Fury asked.

“Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?” Bruce said.

June went through a horrific realization. “Enchantress, you said that the scepter contained…an infinity stone, right?”

“Infinity stone?” Fury said cluelessly.

“Primordial artifacts dating back to the big bang. There are six of them, each one representing a fundamental aspect of the universe, unparalleled in their power,” Natasha abridged Enchantress’s lesson.

“What if he’s planning on constructing a living body…combined with the power of the stone inside the scepter? The same stone responsible for unlocking Pietro and Wanda’s powers?” June asked.

_“He’d be more than a match for all of us. I’d have to go to a drastic threshold to stop him. June’s right. We can’t let that happen.”_

“Then we have to stop him,” Kiko announced.

“Wait,” Pietro said loudly. “Wherever Ultron is, my sister will be there. If you’re going to stop him, I have to go too.”

“No way,” Steve said. “I don’t trust you that much.”

“Perhaps he has a point,” Kiko suggested.

“Listen, she doesn’t know what Ultron really wants. He’s probably telling her lies, or a twisted version of the truth. All he has to do is tell her that he wants to destroy the Avengers, and she’d follow him. I know that because…that’s what we wanted for years,” Pietro described. “Please, let me talk to her. Let me bring her back. I know I can.”

Steve looked around cautiously. The other main Avengers were apprehensive, understandably.

“Let him go. I’ll go with him. I got him once. If he tries anything, I can do it again,” June officially supported Pietro. For a moment, they smiled at one another. June wondered if there was another reason, one that even she didn’t know about, for why she felt she could trust him.

_“I’m with her.”_

“So am I,” Kiko claimed.

His apprehensions partially relieved, Steve reluctantly nodded, much to Pietro’s relief and happiness. He was not happy like a child would be for getting to go on a trip, he was happy that Steve was affording him the opportunity to get his sister back.

* * *

Hours later, right before the sun rose, the five-member, or six including the witch, flew off in the quinjet.

“Enchantress, you can take those power restrainers off Maximoff. He’ll be more useful to us with his speed,” Steve ordered Enchantress.

_“Why?” _the witch asked.

“I imagine if he’s going to betray us, you’ll know,” Cap pointed out.

_“True. But I can only detect surface thoughts, it takes effort to dig deep. And it is not a pleasant experience for the victim. For now, his loyalty is honest, but I cannot guarantee it will stay that way.”_

“Precisely. That’s why we have Dr. Moone. That’s what she’s here for.” Cap nodded, confirming his choice.

The ashen witch removed the power restrainers from Pietro. He smiled, jumped around slightly, and did a little test run around the quinjet.

“Baby, it’s good to be back,” he laughed.

Enchantress liked his enthusiasm. To her, Pietro Maximoff was a symbol, a symbol of all that made up a genuinely good person. He wasn’t a bastard, he was flawed. He did what he thought was the right thing, what he believed in. His belief misguided him to ally himself with the wrong people, and he had enough sense to break away.

He couldn’t escape his past alliance, but he could learn from it. The witch wholly believed the same for his sister. The twins could find redemption, and the first step was to stop Ultron. They spent long hours, switching between sleeping and waking until they finally arrived.

* * *

_ **Seoul, South Korea** _

June, Enchantress, Pietro, and Steve dropped from the quinjet. Kiko and Nat stayed behind in the quinjet with Clint. Enchantress telekinetically carried the four warriors across the way to the lab. Inside was a scene of violence and chaos, scientists everywhere with injuries. Some minor, some gruesome, some fatal. Ultron was definitely here, and recently from the looks of it.

June healed every survivor they came across until they reached the Regeneration Cradle room. Dr. Cho was there, horribly injured but alive. June quickly healed her of her injuries and got her to her feet.

“He’s uploading himself into the body,” Helen said, exhausted, but at least alive.

“Where?” Cap asked.

Cho shook her head, she didn’t know. “The real power is inside the Cradle. The gem, it’s power is uncontainable. You can’t just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark.”

_“The infinity stone. He’s trying to weaponize it, use the living body as the conduit. She’s right. If you blow up the Cradle, you risk levelling the city, at least.”_

Pietro pushed all that away. “My sister, Wanda, was she here? Where is she?”

“She was here, but she ran off right before Ultron sensed the quinjet. She read his mind, the part we uploaded in. She saw what he has planned,” Cho described.

“I have to get her.” June stopped him from sprinting away. Not with a shield, but with her hands and her words.

_“You two, go and find her. I and Steve will take care of Ultron,”_ Enchantress said.

The crew split up. Pietro, faster than June, carried her the same way he would his sister and ran out of the building, leaving Enchantress and Cap on their own.

* * *

“Did you guys copy that?” Cap asked.

“We did,” Clint confirmed.

“I got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest. That could be him,” Natasha said.

“There.” Katana pointed down to a truck from Helen Cho’s lab. “A truck from the lab. It’s right above you, Cap, on the loop by the bridge.”

“It’s them. You got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver,” Hawkeye said.

“Negative. That truck crashes, the stone could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron,” Cap ordered.

_“That won’t be too hard.”_

Enchantress and Steve stood together on the overpass. Steve jumped in time to land right on the truck, and Enchantress teleported after him onto the truck. The sounds of Steve tumbling down across the truck’s cargo container alerted Ultron to their arrival.

Before Enchantress could help Cap up from his tumble, Ultron broke open the door with his powerful kinetic laser beams. It ended up crushing Cap against the truck. The witch, knowing Cap’s strength was more than enough to handle it, went after Ultron directly.

She warped into the truck and kicked Ultron. He was so heavy that the kick didn’t push him far. However, it was enough to break the neural upload link. The upload made it to 86%. He wasn’t going to get any further thanks to her.

Ultron reacted fast, pushing the witch back with his antigravity beam. It smashed her into the back, and then threw her out of the truck before she could recover from the instant stun. She quickly realized that after this fight, she and June couldn’t separate from one another for a while. She’d used up a lot of her time and magic already.

Enchantress landed against the ground aggressively, breaking the concrete beneath her. Steve fought him off alone on the roof of the truck. Ultron was able to get rid of Cap’s shield when it embedded itself into his chest, and knocked him off the truck, forcing him to grapple around the truck to get back up.

The witch came to help him at just the right moment, brandishing her swords. She didn’t want to use elemental magic, out of fear of collateral damage. The witch and the automaton fought in close combat, his arms blocking her strikes. She reinforced her attacks with telekinesis, except that he could simply fly to negate some of their effects. Once again, Ultron made use of his lasers and gravity beams to throw Enchantress off her game and toss her away.

Steve pulled himself back up from the truck at the same moment. “Of course, you end up tossed away just as I get here,” he muttered about Enchantress.

Natasha and Kiko dropped from the quinjet onto the streets on a motorcycle, Natasha as the driver. They drove on a route designated by Hawkeye, where Natasha picked up Cap’s lost shield.

“I’m always picking up after you boys.”

The women intercepted the truck. Natasha tossed Cap his shield just as Ultron was ready to throw him off the truck. He got the upper hand and broke free from Ultron’s grip. Kiko grappled against the truck and climbed up, joining Cap in the fight.

She tapped into the necromantic power of Soultaker, strengthening herself once again. Enchantress warped onto the scene as well.

Facing down three powerful opponents, Ultron smiled. His smile was negated when Hawkeye shot at him from the quinjet. He sent the two lackeys inside the truck after him, just as he hoped.

Kiko dodged and blocked Ultron’s beam attacks with her sword, charging in. Cap charged him from behind, hitting him with his shield. Kiko leapt into the air and cut off Ultron’s left hand.

Cap charged him and threw him off the truck. Enchantress finally took the risk of using magic, charging an ice beam at Ultron. The flying automaton avoided the beam and charged into Steve, straight into a passenger train.

Without hesitation, Enchantress warped onto the train. She concentrated on defending the innocent passengers while Cap fought Ultron directly. Given that both Ultron and Enchantress had demonic appearances, the passengers thought that Cap was the only one there to help them.

“They’re heading back towards you. So whatever you’re gonna do, do it now,” Clint warned. The two lackeys pursuing him caught onto the plan and flew back.

“I’m going in. Cap, can you keep him occupied?” Natasha said.

“What do you think I’ve been doing?”

Black Widow and Katana leapt into the truck together, the former from her bike and the latter from the roof. Katana immediately went to stab her sword through the Cradle.

“Whoa, wait. We first have to break down this body and safely extract the stone,” Black Widow reminded her.

“Got it.”

Natasha attempted to start the breakdown process, if not at least delete the base consciousness that was uploaded. Neither attempts worked, she was blocked out. And then the truck started rising, as the Ultron sentries arrived and lifted it into the air. The women would’ve rolled out of the truck had Kiko not impaled her sword through the ground and held onto Nat.

“Okay, package is airborne. I have a clean shot,” Hawkeye said.

“Negative, we are still in the truck,” Nat said.

“What the hell are you…”

“Just be ready. We’re sending the package to you,” Kiko said.

“How do you want me to take it?”

“Eh…you might wish you hadn’t asked that.” Even the stoic Kiko couldn’t help but smile at the double entendre. She helped Nat to cut the straps on the Cradle.

* * *

Back on the train, Enchantress finally got everyone to another car on the train, them having come to trust her after she protected them. This left Cap in a vulnerable position, pinned and helpless against Ultron. She managed to save him before Ultron could throw him off the train. She readied for another attack.

Out of nowhere, Pietro sprinted from behind Enchantress and knocked Ultron away. Before he could approach Pietro, Ultron was blocked by large metal pieces coming in…surrounded by ominous red auras.

June and Pietro found Wanda in the city. The red witch had wholeheartedly sided with them, if not because of Pietro, then because she knew what Ultron intended to do.

Wanda and June stood with the passengers, with June shielding them all from harm.

“Please, don’t do this,” Ultron quietly begged.

“What choice do I have?”

Ultron blew out the front of the train and flew out.

“I lost him! He’s headed your way!” Cap warned. A few seconds later, and the train ran off the end of the track.

* * *

“Guys, we gotta go!” Clint got into position to receive the Cradle. Kiko rode on crouched on top of the cradle, facing Natasha. The Russian combatant placed a ten-second bomb on the truck and then cut the final strap. She held onto the package as it fell down.

Right as the package entered the quinjet, Ultron took Nat away but the leg.

“Nat!” Both Kiko and Clint screamed her name in unison.

“Cap, you see Nat?” Clint asked desperately.

“If you have the package, get it to Stark. Go!” Cap ordered.

“Do you have eyes on Nat?” Clint asked.

“Go!”

“Clint, there’s nothing we can do,” Kiko said. “We’ll find her. If not, she’ll break out and find us.”

With no other option, he flew away, back to New York with the Cradle in tow.

* * *

“Civilians in our path,” Cap warned. Pietro immediately sprinted out in full speed to push them out of the way of the train.

Enchantress and June approached Wanda. _“We can stop this train together.”_

The train crashed through a building, destroying it.

“Let’s do this,” June said.

The three witches worked together. Wanda used her red telekinetic abilities to slow down the train from the bottom. June attached her shields to the sides and pulled back to help her. Enchantress used her invisible telekinetic powers to decelerate the train, focusing on the roof.

The train came to a swift and graceful stop. Thanks to Pietro, there were no civilians killed by the rogue train. June and Enchantress helped the civilians off the train, June healing whomever needed it. 

The exhausted speedster took a minute to rest. Not having the chance before to do it, Wanda immediately embraced her brother. She cried, shedding a couple of tears, relieved that he was alright.

“I’m alright, Wanda,” Pietro struggled to say.

Wanda noticed Captain America.

“The Cradle. Did you get it?”

“Stark will take care of it,” he answered.

Wanda paused and shook her head slightly. “No, he won’t.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Stark’s not crazy,” he defended.

“He will do anything to make things right,” Wanda said.

Cap pondered her words. “Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms.”

“Ultron can’t tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear any confusion up, June and Enchantress can fight separately. At first, the bond was so weak that they couldn’t be separate for more than a few minutes, or hours if there was no magic usage. Now they can be separate for several days with extensive use of magic. Believe me, I haven’t forgotten about that weakness just yet. It will come up again at some point, remember that. Because of the three days spent with no fighting after Chapter 10, Enchantress and June can fight separately once again with no ill effects. Just take note that this weakness will come up again, as will Enchantress’s weakness.

** _Avengers Tower, New York City_ **

“I’m gonna say this once,” Steve announced.

“How ‘bout none-ce?” Evermore was Tony the patent holder for bad portmanteaus.

“Shut it down!” Steve commanded.

“Nope, not gonna happen.”

_“You have no idea what you’re doing.”_

“And you do?” Bruce said. He pointed to Wanda. “She’s not in your head?”

“I know you’re angry,” Wanda said.

“Oh, we’re _way_ past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade,” Bruce boasted.

_“As if.”_

The argument around the others rapidly escalated. Impatient, Pietro disconnected everything giving the Cradle the power to construct the physical body inside of it. Not just that, but even the computers they were using. All shut off in the timespan of two-and-a-half seconds.

“No no. Go on. You were saying?”

Pietro’s cocky boast was answered with a bullet from below. He watched the bullet go past him. The person who fired the shot wasn’t aiming for him. He fell through the shattered glass, finding Clint standing over him, much to Wanda’s shock and horror.

“What? You didn’t see that coming?” Clint taunted.

The power loss in the cradle went critical. Tony attempted to reroute the upload. Steve threw his shield to destroy the rest of the equipment.

Enchantress watched as the Avengers and Wanda got into a scuffle. When Clint and Kiko tried to come up to intervene, the witch telekinetically blocked their way in to prevent that.

Bruce grabbed Wanda from behind, daring her to piss him off. Unfortunately for him, Wanda easily broke free and tossed him back. Seems that neither Bruce nor the Hulk could probably stand against a woman who could fight without touch.

Tony and Steve fought themselves to a draw. Enchantress charged her magic to destroy the constructed body inside the cradle. And then Thor came out of nowhere, knocking her aside with Mjolnir, burying her inside a wall.

He threw down a massive surge of electrical power into the Cradle, charging it to its fullest, allowing the completion of the body. A strange male-like body broke free, a red bod with metallic accents, a very human face, and the infinity stone embedded in its head. It looked around briefly, and then charged at Thor.

Thor threw the entity past him, through a window. It stopped itself in midair before it could break through the tower’s main window. It examined the city outside, and its own reflection. It was…curious. It also changed its own appearance, giving most of its body a grey color…simulating clothes. It came back down and looked at Thor, also giving itself a cape to match Thor’s.

“I’m sorry. That was…odd. Thank you.” Jarvis? Was that Jarvis’s voice?

“Thor? You helped create this?” Steve asked.

“I’ve had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that.” He points to the infinity stone embedded in the artificial being’s head. Enchantress finally recognized the stone.

_“The Mind Stone? Ultron wanted to build a body to use its power, why would you make it so easy to…”_

“Stark is right,” Thor interrupted. He calmly set his hammer down, downplaying his threat level.

“Oh, it’s definitely the end times,” Bruce nervously uttered.

“The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron,” Thor declared. Enchantress _could_, if she also wanted to destroy a significant area around her in the process.

“Not alone.”

_“Why does your vision sound like Jarvis?”_

“We reconfigured Jarvis’s matrix to create something new,” Tony answered.

“I think I’ve had my fill of new,” Steve commented.

“You think I’m a child of Ultron,” said Thor’s vision.

“You’re not?”

“I’m not Ultron. I’m not Jarvis. I am… I am.” This thing…had nothing to identify itself by.

“I looked inside your head and saw annihilation,” Wanda said.

“Look again.”

“Her seal of approval means jack to me,” Clint said. Kiko stood alongside him, channeling the necromancy of Soultaker. Clint nicknamed this her Death Dealer mode.

“Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, all came from the Mind Stone. And they’re nothing compared to what it can unleash.”

_“Believe me, you’re all better off not knowing what they’re capable of,” _Enchantress added.

“But with it on our side…” Thor continued.

“Is it? Are you? On our side?” Steve interrupted.

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” This vision…he was just like Ultron. So human and so natural in speech and movement that it was off-putting, if for no other reason than the fact that he wasn’t human.

“It better get real simple real soon,” Clint jabbed.

“I am on the side of life. Ultron isn’t. He will end it all,” he said concisely.

“What’s he waiting for?” Tony asked.

“You.”

“Where?” Banner asked.

“Sokovia,” Kiko answered.

“That’s where he’s got Nat,” Clint said.

“If we’re wrong about you, if you’re the monster that Ultron made you to be…” Bruce started threatening.

“What will you do?” said Thor’s vision. Bruce seemed to forget that Enchantress and Thor were the only ones present who could hope to put up a fight against this…vision. Perhaps Wanda could also fight. The point being that he was in no position to make a threat.

The Vision gave a speech about himself. “I don’t want to kill Ultron. He’s unique, and he’s in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he’s built, every trace of his presence from the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don’t think I’d know if I were one. I’m not what you are, and not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go.”

His speech ended when he gave Thor his hammer…he lifted Thor’s hammer, enchanted to only let those of pure hearts wield it. That automatically earned the trust of everyone in the room. Couldn’t be evil if he could wield the hammer.

_“Enchantress…”_

“Three minutes. Get what you need.” Steve ordered.

* * *

Bruce studied the layout of the fortress where Natasha was imprisoned, where her distress call to Clint originated. He had no intention of turning green but knew that he might have to if the time came for it. He didn’t want a rehash of what happened in South Africa.

“Bruce?” June walked into the room.

“Hey, June. What’s up?” Bruce smiled.

“I…uh…”

“Something wrong?” Bruce’s smile faded.

“No. It’s just that, what I’m about to talk about is an uncomfortable topic,” June said.

Bruce sighed, anxious.

“I have a friend that might have overheard a conversation between you and Romanoff back at the Barton homestead. About you two wanting to disappear?”

Poor Bruce’s face collapsed a little bit, believing that his secret was out.

“She also overheard something that she can very much empathize with. Something about children being impossible for you and her?” June was very tentative in her speech, trying her best not to sound insensitive.

“Why are you telling me this?” Clearly, June’s attempt to avoid seeming insensitive failed.

“I can give that back to you,” she stated.

No response.

“Bruce?”

“I…what?” Bruce stammered.

“I can give you back your ability to have children, a future, a life that you want.” _I think_. June wasn’t entirely certain.

“You can?” Bruce didn’t sound excited, rather just surprised and caught off guard. And a little bit frightened.

“Look…I know what it’s like to have a choice taken away from you. History has denied my gender a lot of choices, and even today…let’s say that being a teenage girl trying to get into a good college was difficult. I hate seeing people mourn the loss of a choice. I’m offering that back to you,” June explained.

“I’m not sure if I even want the possibility. I mean…if I had kids…What the hell would they turn out to be?” Bruce asked rhetorically.

“Smart, brilliant, strong. Just like you. Maybe even having their own Hulk forms you can teach,” June said with a smile.

“Wishful thinking,” Bruce muttered.

“They say that if you believe something will go wrong, then it definitely will,” June rebutted kindly. She conjured a ball of soft light, the manifestation of her healing magic. “This is your choice. Your choice to touch. You can say no and change your mind. Just know that if you say yes, I’m not sure I can reverse that.”

Bruce smiled and scoffed, his face twisting with mixed looks of sorrow and humor. For a moment, June was ready to drop the spell. But then he tentatively reached out and touched the ball of light which dissolved into his body.

“Thank you.”

June walked away, but Bruce wasn’t done speaking with her.

“Why would you ever give me, a monster the chance to have children? I doubt others would,” he said.

“I could never live with myself if I knew someone had a problem that I could solve. I have to at least offer. If not, I’ll just tear myself apart with regret. No matter how much anger, hate, or apprehension…I just…I can’t be someone who stands by and does nothing. My body…just won’t let me,” June described.

June walked away, satisfied, and also relieved that Bruce accepted her offer. She partially lied about her conscience. If she offered and he said no, a part of her would feel wrong, like she didn’t try hard enough. That part stems from her own view that children are always a blessing. She knew of this bias, so she never commented on what she would think is the right choice.

A couple minutes later, June walked up to the quinjet just in time to overhear some of Tony, Steve and Bruce’s conversation. Particularly, a sobering piece from Tony.

“No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we’ve lost. There’s gonna be blood on the floor.”

June didn’t know why…but that…broke her. This whole time, she’d been fighting back against arms dealers and weapons manufacturers alongside the other Avengers. All weaklings, easy to fight back against.

But this…this was an apocalyptic-level threat. This was something else. This was just like what happened on the island where she was taken. The world nearly suffered an end, and June was literally knocking on death’s door before she was rescued.

A part of her feared…no. Knew that Tony was right. It reminded June of her own mortality, in contrast to Enchantress’s immortality. Until now, her brain just pushed away the emotions that should’ve attached to the knowledge. It wasn’t until Tony pointed out point-blank that they all weren’t making it through this for it to sink in.

June…was terrified. She was a powerful barrier warrior…but she hadn’t been that for more than a year. She was still just as human as she was before.

_“June. Listen to me. I feel how afraid you are. You’re right to be. You nearly suffered death once before. But you are not that woman anymore. You are not a victim, you are not helpless. You are Doctor June Moone. You survived everything that’s been thrown your way, and this will be no different. You are a survivor. You are a fighter. And you will make it, because you are strong.”_

One minute. A few words, and that was all she needed. She remembered that she survived the island. She _survived_ everything. Life threw June thousands of curve balls that could have taken her life, and she fought back and won all of them.

_I am June Moone. I am alive, I am a survivor. I will survive this._

* * *

June rested most of the way to Sokovia, mostly in her battle attire. She covered her face with her hat. Pietro often found himself gazing at her, much to Kiko’s subtle annoyance and anger.

Pietro took not of how completely impractical the outfit looked, a dress and a huge wide-rimmed hat. It made her look more like a variant of Mary Poppins than a fierce sorceress. Maybe that was angle she was going for.

After several stolen glances and threatening looks, Kiko forewent subtlety.

“Excuse me, please stop looking at my sleeping friend,” Kiko said with complete politeness and a fake smile.

“What can I say? When a beautiful and nice woman kicks my ass, I can’t help but get a good look at her,” Pietro said.

Even Wanda scoffed at her brother’s antics. “Do you ever grow up?”

“No.”

June wasn’t actually sleeping, only just half-asleep, enough to hear the small banter between her best friend and the speedster. She sat up and unblocked her face.

“It’s alright, Kiko,” June said. “Honestly, he’s far less creepy than the guys who would whistle at me on the streets.”

“Gross,” Wanda said.

“Tell me about it.” Apparently, not even Kiko could avoid this entirely.

“You can…pine after me all you want, you won’t get anywhere,” June dismissed. It was a bit of a lie, as she was attracted to Pietro…quite a bit.


	16. Chapter 16

** _Novi Grad, Sokovia_ **

While Bruce looked for Natasha, Wanda used her telepathic manipulation powers, standing in the roads of Sokovia to get as many as she could out of the city. June gave her an enhancement boost to save time, every second counted. Nobody knew how long they had before disaster struck. All they knew was that Ultron was here, and he wanted to see Iron Man.

June was with Wanda and Clint, using her shields to make clear paths to the exit, trying to prevent pandemonium from taking hold. Enchantress was with Kiko and Cap, guiding people through one of the main bridges.

All of a sudden, an armada of Ultron sentries emerged from the ground all over the city. They just swarmed everything like ants in a forest.

“Get off the bridge! Run!” Wanda yelled to the civilians. She put up a red psionic shield to deflect blasts from the sentries. Thanks to June’s power boost, she was able to withstand the blasts without struggle, at least until the sentries discovered a chink in the armor. Firing at the spot on the shield right in front of her strained her the most. They focused on said weak spot, breaking through the shield.

June helped her to her feet while Clint covered her, firing one arrow after another into every sentry in sight.

Kiko and Steve fought in tandem at the main bridge to protect civilians. Kiko used her necromancy enhancement, putting her on a physical and mental par with Cap himself, essentially another super soldier. Enchantress fought alongside them, slicing apart sentries and protecting civilians from stray shots.

Pietro tore through the sentries, his speed and inherent strength shattered them like glass. They stood no chance against him.

Tremors echoed and resonated through the whole city, intensifying with every passing second. It was like the ground was splitting beneath them. It was. A circular area around the city crackled and warped…the city was rising from the very ground itself.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” Iron Man said.

“Sokovia is going for a ride,” the AI said.

Ultron’s ominous and demonic voice echoed through the whole city, emerging from each sentry.

“Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability? You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword, and the Earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal.”

Enchantress sensed the presence of horrified minds…but they were in a building on the very edge of the flying city. She teleported to where she sensed them, a small apartment with a family. Parents and their son.

_“Everyone close your eyes.”_

They did. Enchantress destroyed a wall, giving her instant access outside. She used her telekinetic powers to lift them and herself out of the crumbling building. She did it just in time before the building completely collapsed under the strain of the city’s flight. The witch carried them down to the ground and directed them to “safety”. Nowhere in this city was safe, but it was the next best thing.

A sentry flew from nowhere and rammed into Cap, sending him flying.

“Cap, you got incoming,” Tony warned too late.

“Incoming already came in,” Cap strained.

Kiko helped him back to his feet.

“Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job, tear these things apart. If you get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed…walk it off.”

“Call me,” June said. “Hopefully, I’ll get there in time.”

“Enchantress, can you wreck this thing?” Cap asked.

_“I can, but it’s an absolute last resort. The magic I need to use is powerful but uncontainable. It will very likely destroy everything for at least 250 miles, likely more.”_

“Okay. We save that for when we have no other choice,” Cap decreed.

Hulk arrived just in time to save a large group of civilians from an airborne brigade of sentries, tearing them to pieces, letting none of them escape with their lives.

June, Wanda, and Clint defended civilians from the sentries in the streets, getting them into buildings. A mixture of acrobatics and archery skills gave Hawkeye an edge that June and Wanda didn’t have. Flips and cartwheels punctuated with arrow shots tore down numerous sentries.

Several sentries closed in on an overwhelmed Wanda. Hawkeye came after her and tackled her through a window. June followed in after them, finding Wanda whimpering and horrified.

“How could I let this happen?” she muttered.

“Hey, you okay?” Hawkeye asked.

“This is all my fault…” Wanda muttered.

June watched and listened closely to Hawkeyes words, feeling that they also partially applied to the version of herself when she first gained access to magic.

“It’s your fault, it’s everyone’s fault. Who cares? Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know. Because the city is flying. The city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots…and I have a bow and arrow, none of this makes sense. But I’m going back out there cause it’s my job. Okay? And I can’t do my job and babysit. It doesn’t matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you’re good. I’ll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door, you are an Avenger.”

Wanda could only stare calmly at Hawkeye.

“All right, good chat.” The archer stepped out back into the fray, firing a large swarm of arrows. June took the chance to say her own piece.

“Listen to me Wanda. Less than a year ago, I was you. Bad things happening around me and I blamed myself for it. But you know what? That didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what you did, because you can’t change that. What matters is what you can do right now, in this moment.”

June reached her hand towards Wanda.

“Let’s do this. Right now. You and me. Let’s save these people. Your people.”

Wanda took June’s hand and lifted off the ground, her face carved with newfound confidence. June sensed that her enhancements faded. Wanda shook her head when June tried to reimburse them.

She walked out of the door by herself, singlehandedly tearing apart the sentry brigade that had Hawkeye on the ropes in frightening red clouds of energy. She tore through them, no fuss no muss. June was amazed with her, and happy that Wanda found the strength within herself, the same way June found her own.

* * *

Enchantress and Kiko fought as a two-woman army, cutting their way through numerous sentries. Kiko, enhanced and stronger than she’d ever been, jumped and flipped to intercept airborne sentries. Enchantress, now in an open area with no civilians, channeled her electrical magic, surging it through the area, shorting out the sentries.

She froze them in place with ice magic, and then shattered them with a powerful shockwave of air.

Thor jumped into the mix, flying up into the area, tearing through any sentries that came at him. He, Cap, and the women got creative. Cap tossed his shield at Thor, who struck it like a baseball, sending it careening through numerous sentries. The witch struck it with her long daggers, destroying more sentries, before Kiko kicked it back to Cap.

When Ultron’s main body flew in, he had to choose between distracting Thor or Enchantress, the heaviest hitters. He took Thor and charged him straight into the church to keep him from doing too much damage.

“Alright, all clear here,” Clint said over the comms.

“We are not clear. We are very not clear!” Cap shouted.

“Alright, coming to you.”

Pietro came and picked up his sister. June erected a shield around him before he could run away. She held him in place while she carried Hawkeye in another shield and sped away with him. She couldn’t outrun Pietro, so she gave herself a head start.

“Keep up, slowpoke!” June taunted.

“One of these days…I’m gonna beat you,” Pietro said. His sister looked at him and couldn’t resist laughing. When June dropped his imprisoning shield, he instantly sprinted off.

Natasha joined the others at the bridge, fighting off the sentries not with firearms, but with electrical rods. She stunned and electrocuted the sentries, shorting them out, dodging every attack they threw her way.

“Romanoff!” Captain America threw her his shield.

“Thanks!”

She used it to wreck the sentry in front of her, blocking attacks in tandem with her stun rods. She tossed the shield back to Cap to finish it off.

In the meantime, Iron Man flew around the city, looking for a weakness. However, F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s scans yielded nothing good.

“The anti-gravs are rigged to flip. Touch them, they’ll go full reverse thrust. The city’s not coming down slow.”

Tony remembered something important. “The spire’s vibranium. If I get Thor to hit it…”

“It’ll crack. That’s not enough, the impact would still be devastating,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

“Maybe if we can cap the other end, keep the atomic action doubling back,” Tony speculated.

“That could vaporize the city…and everyone on it.”

The city began rising into the cloud barrier. The clouds reduced visibility to near zero, forcing the Avengers to stay very close in contact with the civilians to get them to safety. For the time being, there were no more sentries.

“The next wave is gonna hit any minute. What do you got, Stark?” Cap said.

“Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That’ll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear,” Tony said quietly.

“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan,” Cap rejected.

“Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We’re gonna have to make a choice,” Tony told him.

“Enchantress, can you carry these people off?” Cap asked.

_“Only up to thirty at a time. This city will be in the stratosphere before I’ll get even a quarter of these people off.”_

“Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock…” Natasha said.

“Not till everyone’s safe,” Cap declared.

Natasha was shocked at his words. “Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There’s no math there.”

“We’re not leaving this rock with one civilian on it.” Cap put his foot down on his position.

“I didn’t say we should leave.” Cap didn’t expect Nat to say that. “There’s worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?”

The sight…it really was beautiful. Nothing but blue skies and white clouds. Just…peaceful. A sharp contrast to the chaos roaring below and on the rock they were standing on. It would be a beautiful sight to see in one’s last moments. Enchantress admitted it to herself that Nat was right. Not many places to get a view like this, especially for humans.

“Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It’s about to get better.” Fury? Was that Fury’s voice?

It sure was. Right in front of Natasha, Cap, and Enchantress, the helicarrier rose up. If Fury was going for dramatic, he was epically successful. This sight was even more beautiful. Now they could get the civilians off the city.

“Nice, right? Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She’s dusty, but she’ll do.”

“Fury, you son of a bitch,” Cap commented.

“Oooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Fury said. Man, nobody is letting Cap live that one down.

Out from the side of the helicarrier emerged the lifeboats, more than enough to get every civilian off the rock and to safety.

“This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Pietro asked.

“This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be,” Cap said.

“This is not so bad.” Pietro smiled happily at the symbol of the true S.H.I.E.L.D., the version without HYDRA’s corruption.

The lifeboats all arrived at the various spots in the city where civilians were hiding. They began setting down just as Ultron sentries started charging at the helicarrier. Fury and Hill released their own defense weapon, their own personal Avenger, so to speak.

It was Rhodes, War Machine, Iron Patriot, whatever the name. He shot through the sentries with his own planted machine gun on his back. “Yeah! Now this is gonna be a good story.”

“If you live to tell it.” Tony came in, giving him an extra hand.

“You think I can’t hold my own?” Rhodes asked.

“We get through this, I’ll hold your own.”

“You _had_ to make it weird.” Rhodes always knew that Tony liked making innuendos, not that it made it any less weird.

Back in the church, Thor distracted Ultron with a very Thor-like speech, bragging about how as long as he lived, he would always fight. It gave Vision the chance to send Ultron flying out of the church away with Mjolnir. The two had no time for pleasantries when more Ultron sentries came after, aiming for the core.

“I got it! Create a heat seal. I could supercharge the spire from below,” Tony said.

“Running numbers,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

June shielded a lifeboat from a sentry attack while Rhodey destroyed said sentry.

“A heat seal could work with enough power,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

“Thor. I got a plan,” Tony said.

“Too late. They’re coming for the core,” Thor warned.

“Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier,” Tony commanded.

“On it.”

“Avengers, time to work for a living,” Tony said.

The Avengers all convened at the church where the spire’s main core was. They took out the sparse and few drone sentries with no effort at all. Natasha and Bruce were notably absent at the moment.

“Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing ‘hide the zucchini’,” Tony said.

“Relax, shellhead. Not all of us can fly.” She was plowing a truck through a whole bunch of sentries, running over them and crushing them until she reached the church. “What’s the drill?”

Tony pointed to the core. “This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose.”

Hulk was the last Avenger to arrive. Ultron’s main demonic body hovered close behind him.

“Is that the best you can do?” Thor challenged.

Ultron called a whole battalion of sentries. Enchantress smiled, enthusiastic for a fight worth her time. Kiko readied herself, summoning strength from Soultaker.

“You had to ask,” Cap dryly commented.

“This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you ag—” June smashed Ultron back with a force blast, interrupting his latest of many speeches.

“Dickhead, talks too much,” June said.

“Uh-oh, she used a bad word,” Hawkeye commented with a smile. Cap, fed up with the language jokes, scowled at him. Except…Cap’s scowl was more hilarious than frightening at the moment. 

The army of sentries charged at the Avengers, now grown from the six original members to eleven. The Avengers…they fought with such a degree of synergy and synchronicity. Attacks weaved between movements and back again. Iron Man and the Vision gracefully flew between the grounded Avengers, respectively blasting and phasing sentries apart. Pietro sprinted in and out of the church, smashing drones apart. Hulk tore and bit them apart, while the purely human Clint and Natasha shot and stunned the sentries.

It was a dance that protected the core from being activated. No drone got even close to activating the core. Ultron realized that fighting them was becoming futile, so he sent in his main vibranium body to intervene.

He attacked Vision, who swiftly threw him aside and fired a powerful laser beam from the Mind Stone straight at him. Enchantress, June, Tony, and Thor all joined in Vision’s furious attack. Thor focused powerful lightning against the robot, Enchantress used beams of fire from her hands, Tony blasted with his chest and hand blasters, and June used her white force power through her fists.

The sheer strain and excessive heat and energy heated Ultron’s body up to such a degree that his metal began melting partially, with pieces flaking off him. It stripped his demonic face, twisting it into a disgusting mesh of molten metal with a moving mouth by the time the five fighters stopped.

“You know, with the benefit of hindsight—”

Hulk was the one to interrupt Ultron this time. He punched the body away. The surviving sentries all desperately fled from the Avengers, flying off the city, trying to ensure that Ultron may yet survive the onslaught. Vision pursued, flying after them.

War Machine intercepted them before they could get far. He boasted, “Oh no, I didn’t say you could leave. War Machine! Coming at you!”

“We must all be superhuman in some way to be breathing this thin air,” Kiko muttered.

_“Or you can just thank me for keeping a chunk of the lower atmosphere up here.”_

“Thank you,” Cap said. “We gotta move out. You guys get to the boats. I’ll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you.”

“If you’re staying, so am I,” June declared.

“What about the core?” Hawkeye asked.

“I’ll protect it,” Wanda volunteered. “It’s my job.”

Hawkeye nodded at her. The girl took his words of wisdom quite well. He, Kiko, and Nat went one direction, Cap and June went in the other.

Pietro stayed with his sister. She ordered him, “Get the people on the boats.”

“I’m not going to leave you here,” Pietro refused.

“I can handle this.” Wanda proved her point by instantly destroying a single Ultron sentry. “Come back for me when everyone else is off. Not before. You understand?”

“You know, I’m twelve minutes older than you,” Pietro reminded her.

Wanda smiled, laughing. “Go.”

* * *

Iron Man flew to the spot right below the bottom of the vibranium spire.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. tried to warn him that his power levels were far below what was needed for a heat seal.

“Reroute everything. We get one shot at this,” Tony commanded.

_“Tony. Let me do this. I have no power restriction.”_

“This is all because of me. I made Ultron, I made all of this possible. Let me do this.”

Understanding his prerogative, Enchantress accepted. _“Then let me do this for you. I learned this from Thor.”_

She fired electricity at Stark, charging up his suit to an extreme.

“Power at 500% capacity,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

“Thanks, Ms. Witch.”

_“No problem.”_

Natasha and Clint drove down through the wrecked streets in a hotwired car. He promised his wife Laura that he wouldn’t destroy another part of the house, but he had an idea that he shared with Nat.

“I know what I need to do. The dining room. If I knock out that east wall, it’d make a nice workspace for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling. She can’t hear the kids running around. What do you think?”

“You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway,” Nat answered.

“No one eats in a dining room,” Clint said.

“I haven’t eaten in one in years,” Kiko said.

Clint drove them to the boat on the bridge. Nearby, the Hulk was rampaging mindlessly. Nat quickly ran over to calm him down and ordered Clint and Kiko to get on a boat. They did as the lady ordered them.

Kiko noticed a frightened border collie hiding in the corner. She immediately sheathed her sword, regaining her natural appearance and went over to get her. She picked up the terrified cute dog in her arms and brought it to the boat. Her tag was labelled Anna. A young family of civilians recognized the dog and immediately claimed her from Kiko, graciously thanking the samurai for saving their dog.

Nearby, Thor and Cap made sure that those were the last civilians.

“Thor, I’m gonna need you at the church,” Tony said.

Right after he got on a boat, a woman began calling a name. “Costel! Costel! We were in the market!” She was screaming at the guards of the boat about her…son? Brother? Didn’t matter. Clint spotted him in the distance. Close by, but too far for comfort. He ran to get him anyway.

Close by, Nat found the Hulk, and did the usual lullaby. “Sun’s getting real low.”

Just as she outstretched her palm, the lullaby was violently interrupted by a barrage of gunfire, enraging the Hulk once again. It was from the quinjet, hijacked by the still-functional Ultron. The shots didn’t hurt Nat, but the impact spatter from them knocked her unconscious.

“♫ I got no strings, so I have fun. I’m not tied up to anyone, ♫” he sang.

Before Clint had a chance to return to the boat with Costel, Ultron fired another barrage in his area. The robot swooped in, firing at Captain America and Thor. The former barely avoided getting shot. Clint, seeing the stream of bullets coming towards him, and knowing that it was futile to run, he turned to shield Costel from the hail of bullets right before they struck him.

Except…they didn’t. Clint and Costel were completely unharmed.

“You didn’t see that coming?” It was Pietro. He jumped into the line of fire, taking the bullets for Clint. Pietro comically…and likely in partial denial of what just happened to him…smiled as he fell to the ground lifeless.

Back at the church, Wanda instantly sensed her brother’s death, that his mind was just…gone. In horror and grief and sorrow, she screamed to the stars. Her powers overloaded, exploding with the power of a bomb, obliterating every Ultron sentry around her to tiny shards of metal.

“June! JUNE! JUNE WE NEED YOU!” Clint screamed desperately, holding Pietro. Despite…no…because of the playful rivalry between himself and Pietro, Clint was heavily saddened and horrified at what happened. This was fatal…Pietro was practically already dead. Cap ran up to them.

“Dr. Moone!” Cap yelled. “Where are you?!”

“I HEAR YOU! I’M COMING!” June screamed.

She sprinted on her shields over the buildings, sliding down to Clint and Cap.

“Move! Outta my way!”

June held and cradled Pietro’s body. She’d never done this before… He was dead. She knew her powers _could _save him, if she weren’t too late. She turned his body, and held her hand over his heart. Her magic flooded his body until the bullet holes riddled through his body began glowing white.

“It’s working. I got him,” June said. Clint and Cap smiled and breathed out heavy sighs of relief.

The angelic white glow intensified, and then just went out, revealing completely healed and unscarred skin beneath it. Color returned to Pietro’s face, and he woke up, gasping for breath, coughing heavily. He still felt the shock and pain of being shot, but he was alive…and physically was like it never happened.

June learned how strong of a healer she was. She could resurrect the recently dead. She wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to do it and didn’t want to know either. She couldn’t live with herself if she tried to save someone and couldn’t. But now…she knew that she could do it.

When Pietro recovered, he looked up at June. It took him a moment to realize that he was still alive, and that the woman above him was not an angel identical in appearance to June, but in fact June herself.

Kiko looked upon the scene from the boat, proud of her friend for saving him.

On impulse, Pietro pulled June’s face down to his, kissing her. She squealed in shock at his action. It was a brief one-sided kiss, Pietro’s manifestation of his joy to still be alive.

Natasha woke up to find herself flying through the air in Hulk’s arms. He brought her to safety on the helicarrier, gently setting her down before leaping to the quinjet and throwing Ultron out of it back onto the city to be destroyed alongside the city.

Wanda left her post before Thor could arrive, enraged, grief-stricken. She marched towards Ultron’s crashing place in a bus, her face and hands glowing with blood red clouds of psychic energy.

The amount of rage and sorrow flooding her body…at this point, she was a living manifestation of volcanic power. All she had to do was once again scream to the stars, and there would likely be no buildings left around her.

Wanda marched right towards Ultron.

“Wanda… If you stay here, you’ll die.” Somehow…Ultron found a way to care about Wanda. In his own way, he…loved her. Enough that he could forget his own survival.

“I just did. Do you know how it felt?” Wanda slowly ripped Ultron’s power core from within his chest, bending the vibranium of his chest, and made sure he had a view of it before he deactivated. “It felt like that.”

Kiko helped the weakened Pietro to a seat on the boat. She sat on his left side, letting June sit on his right. He looked at June apologetically. “Sorry. I almost died, thought it seemed like a good idea.”

June’s response was to smile without anger at him.

Wanda’s absence allowed a single surviving Ultron sentry to activate the core.

Cap was the last one to make it onto the boat, barely making it on right before the city fell from below the boat. Enchantress helped him up. It was all up to Thor and Tony, now. The anti-gravs below the city flipped and pushed the city down, just like F.R.I.D.A.Y. said.

“Alright, Thor. On my mark,” Tony said. The God of Thunder charged Mjolnir with lightning, ready to deal the death blow to this unnatural meteor. Below, at the bottom of the spire, Tony heated up the spire with his chest beam, projecting at %490 power, rapidly heating the vibranium.

Wanda floated weightlessly, willing and accepting of her death, wanting to join her brother in death, tragically unaware of his resurrection and survival. Fortunately, Vision found her and carried her to safety, literally with seconds to spare.

“Now!”

Thor struck the core with all of his strength and power. The city exploded in a violent blast of blue energy, shattering the city and the rocks below to pieces. All that fell were the large rocks and the building fragments that remained falling into a large lake. Iron Man flew away to safety, just barely avoiding the vibranium spire.

An unconscious Thor fell into the lake where Tony picked him up.

Hulk remained in the quinjet. Natasha contacted him from the helicarrier. She tried to get him to come back and deactivate the stealth mode. It didn’t work, and Hulk simply turned off the transmission, choosing to stay away and hide, taking Bruce Banner with him.

It was over. Ultron was gone. The world was saved yet again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the aftermath of Age of Ultron. All the chaos, horror, and action have come to an end yet again. Now you guys will get some respite from the action, in favor of a more character-driven arc, with prominent relationship development that will lead to the next arc of the story, which this time, will not be based on an MCU film. This will be a few chapters showcasing the beauty and idyllic nature of mundane everyday things. June hasn’t really had a taste of normalcy since she found Enchantress.

** _18 days later, New Avengers Facility, New York_ **

Natasha finally got to see her namesake be born. Nathaniel Pietro Barton, born today. She still thought the little guy was a traitor for being male. She was supposed to be a girl.

Whatever…didn’t make a difference. Male or female, Nat still loved the little guy. She was too distracted to notice June’s approach.

“Natasha?” June said softly.

“Yes, June?” Natasha quickly put her phone away.

“I meant to talk to you about something after Sokovia…but after Bruce…it just didn’t feel right,” June mumbled.

“Please speak up a little bit. What are you talking about?” Nat asked.

June chose not to beat around the bush, though she was terrified for Nat’s reaction to what she was about to say. “Kiko overheard your talk with Bruce back at the Barton homestead. About…the graduation ceremony?”

June’s fears weren’t unfounded, but fortunately, Nat didn’t react with Fury, just sorrow. “Why are you reminding me about that?”

“Because I can give that back to you.” Natasha glared at June with an unreadable expression. “I can make it so you can have children, just like you want. You still want that?”

“Yes,” she said…almost tearfully. “You can…you can do that?”

“I can. I did it once before with Bruce right before we left for Sokovia. That’s why I was too nervous to mention it. I didn’t want to…” June stammered, still reeling from how scary it was to bring up a piece of Natasha’s dark past.

June held out her palms. They glowed beautifully with white light. Natasha touched June’s palms. The white light seeped into her body. The glow traversed her skin and body, and then faded, healing Nat of her bilateral salpingectomy.

June felt the need to say something. “I want to have kids one day. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I couldn’t…or if someone took that away from me. Not even that, but just…I always believe everyone should have a choice.”

“Thank you,” Natasha said.

“No need. I could never live with myself if I didn’t at least offer it to you.” June walked away with a wide smile on her face. Natasha tearfully held her stomach, in disbelief that this moment just happened, an impossible moment that she never believed was possible.

_“June.”_

“What is it?” June thought.

_“I have something for you.” _Enchantress appeared in front of June holding a dark staff with a circle on its end, it was long enough that the circle aligned nicely with June’s face. _“My favored weapon in melee combat are my dual long daggers. I believe this staff would be an ideal weapon for you.”_

“Thank you. But why this staff?”

_“I think it looks cool. And…it’s also an effective weapon to channel shielding powers.” _

“But I don’t know how to use this thing.”

_“The magic is relatively easy. I can teach you that. Using the staff as melee will take more time, but that’s what you have me and Kiko for.”_

June smiled at the black staff. She liked its black appearance, contrasting her signature white attire nicely. Her white outfit made it clear that she was nice. This staff would make it clear that she was far from soft.

_“Test out the staff. Remember the way you channel your magic through your hands. Simply think of the staff as an extension of yourself.”_

June did a little test run of her staff. Sure enough, the staff felt like an extension of her, a part of her own being. The magic flowed through the staff like it was her hand. The magic manifested as white bolts inside the circle, coinciding with the presence of a milky white barrier around her.

_“You can will the staff to disappear whenever you want. It will always be with you, no matter what.”_

June willed the staff to vanish and it did. She willed it into her left hand, and it manifested from nothing right into her hand, called to her like Thor’s hammer. June laughed. She didn’t expect that she’d get nor need a melee weapon, but she happily accepted her new weapon. Maybe fights would be more fun now, since now she had more options than just hand gestures.

June went back to her room, where she relaxed and read a compressed form of _Moby Dick _to kill some time before training in a couple of hours. It was a version edited and put into the series of _The Great Classics for Children_. They may be for children, but these condensed literary works were still quite a good read.

She had several different condensed novels on the shelf. She had yet to actually read any of them. Today was the first day where she felt like she could be alone. A knock on her door quickly put that feeling to the wayside.

“Hey.” It was Pietro. “You got a minute?”

“Yeah. What is it?” June was too nice to just flat out reject someone’s attempt at being social, which…sometimes made her old life difficult, since people would take advantage of her for it.

“I, uh, wanted to thank you for saving me back there,” Pietro stammered. He walked into the room and sat down on the bed. Clearly, that wasn’t the only thing on his mind.

“Is something wrong?” June asked.

“Um…We never talked about what happened,” Pietro said.

“It was just a kiss. A glad-to-be-alive kiss. I didn’t even kiss you back,” June said. The real reason she didn’t kiss him back was because the kiss was so quick that she didn’t have a chance to do it. She liked the way he kissed her.

“It meant something to me,” Pietro said.

“Are you saying that you’re in love with me?” June said flatly. She had no idea what to think of that.

“I didn’t say that,” Pietro reminded her.

“You didn’t have to.” June turned away from him. She went back to reading her book. Or trying to anyway. All she could think about was Pietro sitting five feet behind her. She had these feelings for him, feelings that she wasn’t familiar with.

When she heard him stand up to leave, she instantly felt guilty for being so dismissive…and she really didn’t want him to leave. She said the first thing on her mind. “You know that was the first time anyone kissed me, right?”

Silence. June turned to find Pietro smiling at her quietly.

“Is that so?” He sat back down on the bed.

“Yeah. It didn’t help that I was always the youngest person in the room,” June commented. “Tends to happen when you’re in college before you’re 18. It didn’t bother me that much. I was never really interested in that.”

“What did you think? Of your first kiss?” Pietro voice became smug.

June shot down his smugness. “It’s not my first kiss. I didn’t kiss you back, remember?”

Pietro gestured for her to come to him. “So, why don’t we fix that?”

June just gazed at Pietro, at his beautiful smile. She already knew what he looked like underneath his blue spandex shirt. Every part of her said yes, wanting him to kiss her again. The smile contoured by his thin beard, which was still brown in contrast to his white hair. He outstretched his hand to her.

June listened to herself and walked over to him. Pietro smiled confidently, staying seated and waiting for her expectantly. She froze for a moment, never having done anything with _anyone_ before.

“It’s okay,” Pietro reassured. He stood up and tenderly touched her hands. His hands travelled to her face, holding her softly. He waited until she nodded.

This time, she kissed him back. June finally could put a name to her odd sentiments towards Pietro. She found him not just…attractive but likeable. She liked him. Everything in her sparked to life. It felt like the ground was spinning beneath her feet, with Pietro there to keep her steady. Her heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings.

By the time Pietro pulled away from June, goosebumps were scattered all across June’s skin, and she was left almost completely breathless. She had to remember to breathe before she passed out. She’d never been as turned on as she was now. June’s shirt felt a bit tight, and she hoped that she wouldn’t have to change out her underwear after this.

“If that was your first real kiss, how’d you know how to do that?” Pietro asked. June didn’t even realize that her tongue touched his, more than once.

“I’m inexperienced…doesn’t mean Kiko didn’t give me a few pointers,” June said. That was back before Kiko’s husband was murdered and solidified her on a more violent path, back when they were normal women living their lives.

Pietro laughed with her. As much as she heard about relationships, kissing, and various other things going further, June was still inexperienced…and that cause her to be nervous. Her response to being slightly nervous was to giggle. It didn’t help that she hungered for more…hungered for something that she wasn’t exactly prepared for.

June had faced down murderous HYDRA agents and an omnicidal automaton in the past year, yet the idea of a relationship and kissing was far more frightening.

How weird…the mundane pleasures and daily activities seemed so boring but still frightening. She had this same reaction a few weeks ago after they retrieved the scepter from Sokovia. Choosing a dress felt so boring and weird…not as much as now because Kiko was with her.

Pietro touched June’s face, and June touched his hand, closing her eyes, focusing solely on his warm skin. She wasn’t cold by any stretch of the world, but Pietro’s skin was like a furnace. He was just so warm…probably because he was also aroused from kissing June.

Knocks on the door. “Pietro?”

“I’ll be right out, Wanda.” He kissed June one more time before he left the room. She looked at herself in the reflection of the inactive TV screen. Heat flooded her smile, blushing her. She collapsed on the bed, exhilarated. She wasn’t sure if it was love or lust or something else…all she knew was that being with Pietro, touching and kissing him was addictively euphoric.

She fell asleep quickly, her face frozen with a smile. Enchantress appeared standing in the room, smiling down upon June. It was always a beautiful thing to watch her hosts discover a significant other.

A few minutes later, Kiko found her way to June’s room. She laid down next to her best friend to keep her company…and to wake her up before training.

* * *

Wanda looked at her brother’s smile, the smile she thought she’d never see again in her life. Her effortless natural telepathic bond with him only reformed after she got physically close to him.

As they walked away from June’s room, Wanda felt her euphoria, shared it with her. It slightly disturbed Wanda, since June’s high was because of her partially resolved sexual tension with Pietro. In essence, Wanda shared the effects of a slight sexual release involving her own brother.

“You know, I’d really appreciate it if you stopped following me around. You don’t have to worry about me,” Pietro said.

“The last time I didn’t worry about you, I felt you die,” Wanda reminded him.

“Look, I think this place is pretty safe. Besides, that was a stupid moment on my part. I forgot that I move so fast that bullets move slow. I could’ve, I should’ve just pushed the bullets away from Barton instead of throwing myself in front of him,” Pietro expressed.

“I felt what it was like to die once before. I won’t survive it if I feel your mind vanish again,” Wanda told her brother.

“I promise I will be more cautious from now on. Trust me, you might have felt it, but I lived it,” Pietro said.

“What was it like?” Wanda asked.

No answer from Pietro. He’d rather not revisit that horrific part of his life. Quite the opposite. He didn’t really have to answer, Wanda could just look into his mind to find it. Sure enough, she didn’t like what she saw…something that living mortals should never see in life. It was better if what Pietro saw remained between them.

* * *

That night, long after training ended, June, Kiko, and Enchantress trained in their own time, helping June learn the art of being a master of the staff. As with everything else June did under Enchantress, a rookie June did not disappoint.

She wasn’t by any means a master of the combat art, but she was quickly grasping the concepts nonetheless, where to place her hands, how to swing, the basic moves. In good time, June would eventually learn the real stuff, the moves that required complete kinesthetic control of one’s body.

At the end of the training session, Enchantress said, _“I need to tell you something.”_

“Oh no. What is it?” June asked.

_“Before Thor left, he said that the Mind Stone was the fourth infinity stone to show up over the last few years.”_

“That can’t be a coincidence,” Kiko commented.

_“Precisely. I pulled out the remaining vibranium from the lake back in Sokovia. It’s in a remote part of Siberia right now.”_

“What for?”

_“I hope to use the ship schematics we received from Yon-Rogg last year to construct a ship to take us across the universe and find out what we can about the other stones. I personally only dealt with two stones eons ago. I hid them away personally, one of which is here on Earth.”_

“Why can’t you guys teleport?” Kiko asked.

_“Because we can’t teleport other humans with us. I’m hoping that you’ll come with us.”_

“Yes, I will. Wherever June goes, I go too,” Kiko affirmed. She and June shared a smile and an embrace.

_“There is no rush. The ship will be finished in roughly two months. I see no reason to keep this a secret from the others.”_

The witch warped away.

“You know, I thought you guys had a limit on how long you could stay apart,” Kiko commented.

“We do. By this point, we can stay apart for weeks at a time. It’s when we extensively use powerful magic that it becomes a problem, probably why it’ll take a couple of weeks to construct the ship,” June explained.

There was a part of her that felt…conflicted over leaving. She absolutely believed that they needed to find out more about the other stones. However, the budding stages of a relationship with Pietro, if there even would be one, kept her from being completely on board with it.

Kiko went back to her own room, as did June. She grabbed _Moby Dick_ to read it…and then just put the book down. She summoned her dark staff and went back outside. She was too restless to read.

She practiced all the moves that she was taught, how to twirl her staff to reorient it, twirling it over her head in preparation for a forward strike, multiple basic moves that didn’t involve much in the use anything other than her upper body.

After practicing her physical moves, she planted her staff on the floor and channeled her magic through it. Outwardly, her magic was all the same, manifesting in white clouds. The circle inside the staff, however, color-coded her magic. White for shields, green for healing, blue for enhancement.

This is what was going to take some serious elbow grease, learning to channel her magic through a third hand.

June sensed a presence behind her. It was Wanda, her hands filled with her red psionic energy.

“Want to go a few rounds?” she asked.

“Why not?” June challenged.

Nearby, Pietro and Natasha and Steve watched the fight.

The women sparred, trading blows. They were so similar in so many ways, with their powers having equally defensive and offensive applications. Wanda had no melee, but was very honed with her powers. June was also adept with her powers, but had never faced down a mirror match before.

When June got the upper hand through shields and staff strikes, Wanda regained it by messing with June’s head, implanting an illusion of complete darkness.

“Oh, now that’s just a low blow. How about this?!” June got pragmatic just the same. She encased Wanda in a shield contouring her body. The pressure was so high around Wanda that she couldn’t breathe. June was waiting for her to pass out.

No such luck. Wanda, unable to use her hands, used her eyes instead. Her powers could bypass June’s shield, directly attacking her legs, tripping her up enough that June’s shield dropped.

It dropped Wanda to the floor. She barely used her powers in time to slow her descent.

Both women coughed and sputtered, and very quickly realized that sparring was probably a bad idea.

“Sorry,” June said.

“I’m sorry too…for messing with your mind,” Wanda said.

Loud claps resonated through the room. Pietro and Steve were standing close by, watching the fight. Pietro…was eating a bag of Fritos, clearly enjoying himself. They were smiling proudly at the display before them.

The women struggled to stand up, stunned and winded.

“Either of you care to give us a hand?”

Elsewhere in the building, Enchantress made use of her electrokinetic powers to study the ship schematics that Yon-Rogg left behind. It was an incredible piece of machinery, making used of manipulating space-time as a way to accelerate. The witch was surprised that Tony hadn’t attempted to build this ship yet. Maybe he didn’t think that he had the right supplies for it.

The vibranium alone wouldn’t be enough. She needed more metallic supplies to complete it, but the vibranium would be enough to suffice as the central skeleton of the ship. The fine details could be added later, fabric for comfort. She could get that later.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June takes a leap forward, trusting feelings that make no sense.

** _Three months later, New York City_ **

June and Pietro finally decided to go out on what amounted to a date after three months of stealing moments in each other’s rooms, even though both of them were aware of her intent to travel the stars with Enchantress and Kiko. They drove to a parking garage in main New York City. They figured they’d just walk down the street wherever fate might take them.

It was June’s birthday, her 21st.

At Pietro’s insistence, June wore a wide-rimmed hat. This one wasn’t magically attached to her head. It was a normal woven hat. Even so, it was still very June.

Walking down the street…one of the world’s most mundane activities and one that the vast majority of the world never gave any thought to. Right now, it was a luxury. The world wasn’t in peril, there were no people out to get them now, they were safe.

For nearly a year, Pietro and June’s lives were in turmoil. Interestingly, for both of them, it was because of HYDRA. Experiments activated Pietro’s powers, and a coincidental meeting brought June to Enchantress.

Pietro put his arm around June’s shoulder, gazing at her face below the hat’s rim.

They stopped by an IHOP for a nice breakfast.

“How much are you willing to bet that Steve has someone on us to make sure we’re not getting into trouble?” Pietro asked.

“None. I mean, he knows that we can take care of ourselves,” June said.

“Well…don’t you mean you take care of both of us?” Pietro mumbled, no sense of energy in his voice.

“Hey. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I mean, hell you saved Hawkeye and the kid he was holding,” June reminded him.

A couple of kids, both looking 13 or 14 years old, came up to the table. They looked very similar, probably twins…kind of like Pietro and Wanda. The girl had her long curly dark hair obscuring one side of her face. The boy had the same kind of curls cropped short. They looked like they were Latin, but their skin was pale.

“Can we get a picture with you?” asked the girl. She sounded so contained, shy, and nervous.

“Just me, or him too?” June asked.

“One Avenger? Awesome. Two? Double awesome!” said the excited boy.

“Well come on,” Pietro said.

Pietro and June moved behind the children and grabbed one of the kids’ phones. June uncovered the girl’s obscured face. The girl quickly covered her face back up, but not in time before June noticed the large port-wine stain on her cheek.

June immediately forewent the picture. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Alicia. But…everyone calls me Ali.” Her name is pronounced ah-LEE-see-ya, rather than ah-LEE-shah.

June once again put Ali’s hair back off her face. Not with her hands, but her shields. She gave it a proper part down the middle for about an inch-and-a-half and allowed the rest of her hair to radiate outwards. The new hairstyle opened up her face, framing it instead of hiding it.

“Never let anyone tell you that you’re wrong to be different. I mean, I’m jealous of that birthmark,” June said. “Never hide. Be yourself, be proud to be you. If anyone says anything bad about you just for being yourself, you know what you have to do?”

“What?”

“Punch them in the face for me,” June whispered. “No, not really. I don’t want you to get suspended from school. No. What you really do is don’t let it get to you. Acknowledge it, embrace it. Thing that make us unique make us who we are.”

“I wish I could be like you. Strong and powerful…and beautiful,” Alicia said. Her brother frowned in sadness behind her.

“You are strong, smart, and beautiful, just like every other girl in the world. But I have a secret I want to share with you both.” Even Pietro leaned in closer to listen. “Everyone in the world can do so much more than they believe. This world, magic…everyone can use it. In Tibet, there is a place called Kamar-Taj. There, you will find people who have learned to master their inherent potential for magic. If you really want to learn, and have some gifts of your own, go there. Convince your parents…if they can afford it.”

“I think they can. My dad’s a CEO,” said the boy.

“Good. Now let’s get that picture,” June said.

* * *

** _Northern Siberia_ **

Enchantress worked diligently to construct the ship, harnessing the resources from the vibranium spire. She used her powers to heat up the metal so that it would became malleable, and could be manipulated into other shapes.

Once it was hot enough to reshape, she molded the metal into the shape of the ship in the schematics, down to the most minute details. A perk of having a perfect memory ability. Once the ship was carved into the right shape, Enchantress used some leftover Chitauri technology to give it propulsion systems, life support systems, and everything else needed for spaceflight. Mixing alien technology with advanced human resources to create a perfect ship for spaceflight.

Four infinity stones in the last few years…Thor was absolutely right about that not being a coincidence. The problem was that Enchantress had no idea who would be behind such an endeavor, and even better, what was their goal? Why was this person searching for the infinity stones?

The ancient witch knew that no matter how hard this person tried, there was one infinity stone that they’d never be able to obtain, because no one alive knew where it was. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to just take the stone like Ultron took the Mind Stone. There was a high price to pay, one that was impossible for psychopaths and sociopaths to pay.

Enchantress herself only knew the locations of three infinity stones…four now. Mind, Soul, Space and Time. Time was safe in Kamar-Taj with the order of powerful sorcerers protecting it, Space was in Asgard according to Thor, and Mind was safe with Vision. Soul…Enchantress could never even risk thinking about its location, lest a telepath find out through her thoughts.

Hopefully this ship would help them find other infinity stones, the other three. If she could find the others before whoever this person was, the red Reality Stone and the purple Power Stone, maybe she could prevent their plan from being fulfilled.

If not, then they just might learn who was behind all the manipulations around the infinity stones.

Enchantress completed the main body and engines of the ship. A garden constituted the entire lower half of the ship for oxygen and food, complete with a fake environment capable of having its own weather phenomena from the transpiration of the plants and the false sunlight simulating the pattern of day and night. The rest of the ship were the living quarters and the other rooms for storage or whatever was necessary, including a bridge with four chairs. It was enormous, dwarfing any buildings it would ever be in the presence of. It was so large that it was practically a flying city made of powerful and strong vibranium. She even rigged alternate forms of the anti-gravs so that the ship would give gravity in the depths of space. It was so large that the only reason it could ever get out of the atmosphere and Earth's gravity prison would be because of the witch's magic.

With the ship’s main body and technology complete, Enchantress examined the ship’s interior to ensure that it was structured the way she wanted it to be. Then she went to the piloting room, where activated the ship and uploaded an AI into the system, J.O.C.A.S.T.A.

Just Of Course Another Superb Thinking Apparatus.

“Good evening,” Jocasta said. Unlike Friday, who spoke in an Irish accent, and Jarvis/Vision, who had an English accent, Jocasta had an American accent. Though, the voice...her voice sounded like it belonged to an African-American woman.

_“Hello, Jocasta. Welcome to my ship. What do you think of it?”_

“This ship is a remarkable feat of technology. Did you extract resources from the recent Sokovia incident to construct it?” Jocasta asked. She sounded very human, very comforting, though her accent might catch them off guard. However, it should still be a comfortable presence for the passengers on this little boat.

_“I did. Will you please send these schematics to Mr. Stark?”_

“I can only imagine what he might do with this kind of tech.” Wow, even Jocasta has a slight sarcastic streak about her. “Full render and scanning being sent to Stark Industries, now.”

_“Thank you. Tell me, do you think you could pilot this spacecraft yourself?”_

“No. I’m only connected to the ship’s flight log, jump point log, propulsion system, anti-gravity system, and the life-support system. I can’t control the ship.” The AI had a sense of dry sarcastic humor. Fitting.

* * *

** _New York City_ **

The night sky was full of artificial light from the city. Sitting on a bench in central park didn’t offer much of a beautiful view of the night sky. Instead, they just enjoyed the quietness of the night, June leaning into Pietro, nearly sleeping.

Them alone in this park, a few other people nearby, all of whom barely noticing each other, just enjoying a day in the park.

“Beautiful, isn’t it,” June whispered.

“What is?” Pietro asked.

“This…all of it…all this around us.” June waved her hand around at the park. “I remember all the times I walked in this park, before I inadvertently released an imprisoned sorceress.”

Pietro pulled out a picture of him when he was young, alongside his sister and parents. The picture was folded and crumpled, like he carried with him all his life. “Me and my family used to take walks around the city just to get out of the house.”

“My mother used to do that with me,” June replied. “I miss her so much. I wonder what she would’ve thought of me becoming an Avenger of all things.”

“My parents would be…very disappointed in me and my sister,” Pietro muttered.

“No, they’d be proud. You went from hating the Avengers to being members and even saved the world. If that’s not redemption, I don’t know what is,” June reassured.

“Thanks.”

Pietro sniffed June’s hair and ran his fingers through it. Her smooth blonde hair, loosening the waves and running into a couple of knots. He was gentle enough to keep from hurting her. Finger-combing her hair was a scalp massage in all but name, at least for June.

But June finally acknowledged a painful truth. She pulled away from Pietro. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“What do you mean?” June’s words caught Pietro completely by surprise. “I thought we were having a nice night out.”

“I am…it’s just that…we both know I won’t be here that much longer. I’d say that maybe it’d be better to end whatever this is rather than hold onto something that we won’t be able to hold onto.” She obviously wasn’t feeling her own words. She knew they had to be said.

“Maybe I can go with you,” he commented.

“Come on, now, be reasonable. How long has it been since we met? Like…three-and-a-half months? You have a sister who worries about you and who you’ve already spent a big part of your life with. We barely know each other,” June said without looking at him.

“I know that you’re a good person. You studied Mesoamerican cultures all your life, graduated early. You can’t stand to see people get hurt. You don’t like it when people take out their anger on good people. You don’t do what’s pragmatic, you do what’s right. And you love dressing in impossibly beautiful outfits, and love wide-rimmed hats,” Pietro described.

No response from her.

“Maybe I know you a little more than you think.” He sounded like he was getting a little bit smug.

“And you’re a guy who likes women who can kick ass and take names. A little bit impatient, but not so much. You’re a determined person who always fights for what he believes is right. And you’re more than willing to sacrifice yourself to save others. And you’re a gentleman on top of it all.” June couldn’t help but laugh at her own words.

“I got you something,” Pietro gave her a box. He stayed sitting down, hoping that she wouldn’t be afraid it was an engagement ring. She wasn’t.

Inside of a small box was a necklace. It was a sunflower crystalline necklace on a brown pearl chain. Pietro thought since Enchantress was largely adorned with moons and crescents, then June should have motifs related to the sun. He said, “Happy birthday.”

“I love it. Thank you,” she said, her voice pulsing with utter enthusiasm, almost crying. She clipped it onto herself, letting it rest against her chest. The cold golden crystal against her skin quickly warmed up to match her own body.

Pietro picked June up in his strong arms, lifting her into the air and kissing her.

“What if we didn’t go back to the facility?”

“What?” June asked.

“What if we…got a place just the two of us for the night?” Pietro offered. “I know we got our own rooms back at the facility…but why not someplace where we can be more private?”

June gazed at him in complete curiosity. They both knew what he was offering in euphemism. Honestly, the girl was rather perplexed, and didn’t know what to say. Her heart wanted to say yes, the rest of her wasn’t so set in stone.

But she trusted her heart once before. She trusted it again and nodded. “Can we stop by a pharmacy first?” she asked.

Pietro gave June a “for what” look.

“Contraception.”

He whacked himself in the head for not remembering that aspect of a relationship. Much to his surprise, June didn’t buy any condoms. Instead, she bought a one-pack morning-after box. Looked like June didn’t want him to be wrapped in a bunch of latex for their first time. He didn’t like using those things either.

* * *

** _New Avengers Facility_ **

Wanda woke up abruptly in the middle of the night. No particular reason why, she just did. Now that she was awake, she realized that her brother wasn’t in the building. She didn’t sense him anywhere.

Still, she got up to look around for him. She checked his room, but of course he wasn’t in the room. She looked everywhere around the dark facility. She looked from room to room just to make sure this wasn’t a case of her just not being able to feel him. The last room was the lounge.

_“You brother is not here. Neither is June.”_

Enchantress was sitting close by, feasting on chocolate ice cream.

“Any idea where they are?” Wanda asked.

_“Looking for a motel for the night. They want some alone time, and I am more than willing to give it to them.”_

“Oh my God…you just put that image in my head.”

Enchantress laughed at Wanda’s expense. She was nice enough to give Wanda her own bowl of ice cream. The red witch devoured the ice cream, giving herself a brain freeze in the hopes that the pain would eliminate the image of her brother and June together.

It didn’t work.

* * *

** _New York City_ **

June washed her face in the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She had no idea what to think of what was about to happen tonight. She wasn’t changing her mind.

She gazed at her reflection, took a few deep breaths. She relaxed, knowing that being stressed over all of this was only going to ensure it was uncomfortable, maybe painful. There wasn’t anything she could do about how awkward this was.

June didn’t know if her fast heartbeat was because she was nervous and didn’t realize it, or if…she was aroused. Probably the former.

Pietro was picking at his cuticles sitting on the bed. He stood up to meet her, and touched her hands tenderly, encouraging. His touch helped ease her tensions.

“You want me to start first?” He half-laughed when he asked the question.

“I…don’t know what you mean by that but yes.”

Pietro removed his coat and his shirt, tossing them aside on the floor. Once before, June saw what he looked like underneath the shirt. She really liked it then, and she really liked it now. He looked amazing…and highly alluring. All she wanted to do was touch him.

Except now, she could. She touched his muscular chest, starting from right around his neck. She nervously touched him, tracing her silver-painted nails down his skin.

“I’m not gonna break. Don’t be afraid,” Pietro reassured.

“How many times have you done this?” June asked.

“Twice.” So, even he was mostly a newbie at this as well.

June became a little bit more confident in herself, and touched him with more force, scratching him a little bit. It felt good for both of them. She loved feeling his bare skin beneath her hands, and he loved every moment he was touching him.

June took her own turn, taking off everything on top except for her bra, letting him see her thick curvy body. People always wondered if she was a model, since her height and her curves made her look appealing even in everyday attire.

Thinking about it, June realized that her body was the stereotypical match for Pietro’s muscular body. The muscles to her curves.

“Oh my God, it’s really cold,” June shivered.

Pietro tentatively touched her. When she didn’t flinch, he embraced her, sharing his own heat with hers. The heat exchange helped to relieve all tension from her body at all. He was warm, but it still wasn’t enough to warm her up entirely.

June kissed him. He kissed her back with a little bit of ferocity, possessiveness. It was a little bit animalistic, like the inner primitive mammal slipped through his gentle caring human nature. Not that it made her uncomfortable, not by a longshot. In fact, she liked it.

Pietro’s hands went into her hair while her own hands reached behind her, unclasping her bra. The cloth fell from her, leaving her completely exposed from the waist up. And she didn’t even feel all that discomforted anymore.

The kiss ended once Pietro felt the bra fall. He took her to the side of the bed and took off his pants. His own arousal was evident in the tent that formed in his boxers. The tension and intimidation kicked back in.

“Baby? My eyes are up here,” Pietro said.

This guy…he knew just how to alleviate her trepidation, with a sense of humor. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been staring at her boobs this whole time. He was always looking her in the eyes, his beautiful baby blues looking into her sapphire blues.

June removed her pants, leaving only one article of clothing left. She felt so warm on the inside, her blood pumping and her heart racing. However, all she could do was shiver. 

“Are you cold?” Pietro asked.

June snickered and nodded. He pulled off his boxers, revealing himself to her. She had no choice but to freeze up for a moment. With the absence of a father in her life, she’d never once seen a man completely nude like this. Not once.

She couldn’t take her eyes off him…especially his hard cock standing prominently out from his body.

This time, Pietro had no comedic remarks. He approached the shivering June and traced his hands down her body until he reached her underwear. He tugged them down slightly, and then she pulled them off the rest of the way, letting her own body be completely exposed.

Now with both of them standing nude in front of each other, June could only smile sheepishly and outwardly cringe and shiver. Pietro was concerned for her to an extent, though he wasn’t surprised at her reaction to this.

Badass fighter she might be, but she was still a girl with normal emotions and a normal life.

“You look beautiful,” Pietro said.

“Do I really?” June still felt a little bit ashamed and afraid to be seen so nude and vulnerable in front of someone. Not even Kiko ever saw her naked. The closest was a bathing suit.

“Of course. I would never lie,” he claimed. “Come on.”

The pair crawled underneath the bed’s covers, and Pietro wrapped his body around her from behind.

“Why are we under the sheets? Won’t that make this a little bit…cumbersome?” June muttered.

“Then I guess we’d better go slow and easy.” June smiled. Pietro…quite the gentleman to ensure that she would be comfortable with this. But he wasn’t just going in at her. He kissed and suckled at the back of her neck, even nipping at her. His much thicker beard once again touched her neck as he kissed and suckled her. It was well-maintained, and thus for June, it felt like a soft fur pillow rubbing her bare skin. She loved his beard, and he grew it and maintained it just for her. As before, it was colored a copper brown, a sign that his white hair wasn’t what his hair looked like.

The taste of her skin was the closes thing to ambrosia, the meal of the gods of old. A life-giving meal, energizing and invigorating. Growls instinctively came out of his throat, vibrating against her neck.

He might have only screwed around twice, but twice was enough to help him learn what made a woman tick, what made her want more and more. He snaked his arm down her stomach until he reached hair. He traces through slowly and deliberately until he slipped his finger inside of her.

The sudden presence of large fingers inside of her almost made June scream. No…not almost. She did scream, moaning loudly at the shock of his invasion of her. Ripples and the tightness that was building in her body suddenly intensified and spread out all-over her body.

June wasn’t idly lying down and letting Pietro do all the work. She turned, resting on her back to face Pietro directly. He kissed her with force, force that she eagerly returned. She traced her nails straight down his skin, across his side and back. As his fingers moved in and out of her faster and harder, she scratched him harder and harder.

Her powers inadvertently activated to heal the scratches she left in his skin.

This cycle continued and became stronger, June’s hands travelling across the landscape of Pietro’s body, him hardening more and more and her thighs becoming more and more wet until he abruptly stopped. He pulled his fingers out of her body, leaving her desperate to just finish.

“What are you…”

June couldn’t even finish her words, that was how strong her lust for him. He crawled over her body, gazing into her eyes, nearly breathless. He reached down to his cock, soaking himself with her wetness.

For him, this was a first. The two times he slept with someone, neither of them were virgins. This was also the first one that he actually felt a bond with. He cared about the others, but this woman was someone he felt something far stronger for.

“I love you, baby.” The words came out of his mouth without him even needing to think about it when she first felt it. This was only about ninety days after he met June, and yet…he knew this was true. She was just like every other girl, smart, strong, and beautiful. What made her stand out, what made him love her, was that she was just like him. A strong person born of pain, something he couldn’t share with anyone except his sister.

“I love you, too.” June realized that she in fact reciprocated his feelings, much to her own surprise. She loved him, not because he was muscular, very attractive, and had a husky voice, though that didn’t hurt any. She loved him because he was the man who would fight tooth and nail for what he believed and sacrifice himself for others without hesitation.

He slid inside of her. He went slowly, but never stopped. He slid inside of her until he was inside of her completely.

The opposite of everything she ever heard, this was the most euphoric she ever felt in her life. There was no pain, no ripping sensation. Just pressure, pressure that felt so good that she never wanted it to end.

Pietro rested inside of her, enjoying this one precious moment. He savored this one moment that couldn’t ever be recreated. The way she was pulsing and squeezing him almost made him go over the edge right then and there.

He buried his face into her neck, licking the spot right above her shoulders, a spot he discovered was like a switch that turned her on brightly. Her hands went around his back, reaching as far she could, softly scratching his bare skin. 

They stayed this way for a few minutes before he finally started moving. He moved with tenderness and gentleness, moving slowly inside and out of her. He moved with care, wanting to prolong this precious moment even further. It wasn’t enough for June.

“Harder,” June demanded quietly. Pietro stopped for a moment, looking at her in surprise and joy.

He bucked harder, just as she asked. He didn’t go faster, just pulled out and pushed in with much more force. If he went any faster, he would go over the edge before her. Not exactly what he wanted.

This was what she wanted. She loved this, loved feeling him pushing hard inside of her. Every forceful push inside of her was like a shot of the most powerful drug in the world. Unlike real drugs, this one made her feel extremely good, every time, with no side effects.

Pietro felt just how much she loved this, how she squeezed him tighter and tighter, faster and faster. She scratched him harder and harder. The stinging only lasted a few seconds before her powers healed the scratches.

It didn’t take long for him to surrender to her body’s demands. He moved faster, and even harder. Her moans grew louder and louder, more and more powerful. He growled and snarled into her neck.

And then a surge of pleasure, tingling and pulsing pleasure flooded June’s entire body. Pietro felt it too, the powerful constriction around his rock-hard cock. It dragged him over the edge with her. He came, exploded inside of her. He fucked her, kept pushing inside three more times until he finally finished completely.

“God……damn,” he muttered into her neck.

They shared a nice lazy cool-down kiss. The smell of their shared sweat, his musk, her natural smell, and everything else just coalesced into something brand new. A new smell that June didn’t even have a name for.

It was the best thing she ever smelled in her life.

Pietro touched the illuminated shiny crystalline sunflower on June’s chest.

“Happy Birthday, baby.”


	19. Chapter 19

The sunlight shined in through the translucent curtains. June stirred from her deep sleep…and she realized that she was alone in the bed. On impulse she sat up in the bed. Before she even had a chance to call out his name, she heard the toilet flush.

After a few minutes, Pietro still didn’t come out. And then she heard the bathtub turn on. Nice timing for her to wake up. She walked out of bed, wrapping herself in the blanket. On the shelf were their clothes, nicely folded, and a note.

_Don’t worry, I didn’t stick around for the nasty. I did bring you guys a couple of things at 4 in the morning. I also cleaned and folded your clothes. _

_E._

_P.S. Cap is _not_ happy that Pietro ditched yesterday._

June smiled, grateful that her other half was so kind to give her full privacy. She didn’t even think about that fact, it just completely slipped her mind. She walked to the bathroom, where a nude Pietro was sitting on the edge of the tub. A pair of toothbrushes, a hairbrush, and the pills she got yesterday were on the sink.

“Morning. I didn’t mean to wake you. Why are you wearing that?” Pietro chuckled.

June gave him a small teasing smile. She felt a lot more attractive, a lot more confident in herself after last night. It awakened a much more provocative side to her. She wrapped her arm around her, holding the blanket in place.

She brushed her teeth in front of Pietro, who stood up and playfully pulled at the blanket. She playfully resisted him. She took her toothbrush out of her mouth and kissed him.

“Ew, you taste like toothpaste,” he sputtered. He washed out his mouth in the sink. While his back was turned, June dropped the blanket and got in the nice hot water. She dipped herself in as far as she could beneath the side of the tub. She turned off the water right before he turned around.

“Ah, I see. You want to play hard-to-get,” Pietro said. He dipped into the water, causing the tub to overflow.

“Oh my God, Pietro. You’re gonna flood the room…”

“I know.” He kissed her, his tongue dueling with hers.

* * *

** _New Avengers Facility_ **

Enchantress played a couple of video games in the rec room. Among them were _Tomb Raider (2013): Definitive Edition_, _Resident Evil (Remake)_, and _The Last of Us_. Given that she didn’t need sleep, she played the games all night.

When Cap walked in after dawn, he looked at her in total shock.

_“What? Am I not allowed to appreciate modern interactive media?” _

“I just…thought you would think nothing of it,” Steve clarified. “You don’t need rest?”

_“I do. Just far less than humans. I can stay out of June’s body for a single night.”_

“Where is she?” Steve asked.

_“Last time I checked, she and Pietro were at a motel in New York City.”_

“Maximoff…when I thought of him as a kid, I honestly didn’t think he’d be as horny as one,” Steve muttered.

_“Well…he did kiss June in the middle of battle in Sokovia.”_

Steve changed the subject. “When do you leave?”

_“A few days. The ship is almost complete. I took my time obtaining resources to make it more of a home than a simple ship.”_

“Can I ask you a question?” Steve requested.

_“Of course. Anyone can ask a question. It’s a matter of whether you will.”_

“Cute. If you’re supposed to this benevolent force of magic and sorcery, why do you look like that? Forgive me for saying this, but your appearance didn’t exactly scream that you’re an ally to me.” Steve maintained an air of professionalism, no underlying prejudices in his voice or mind.

_“I draw power from a realm known as the Dark Dimension. Sorcery allows me to draw power from other dimensions to manipulate. I just don’t normally use them because my natural powers suffice. Consistent use of the Dark Dimension’s magic gave me the curse of immortality and transformed me into a smoking entity.”_

“The Dark Dimension, huh? Doesn’t sound like a nice place to be,” Steve dryly remarked.

_“It’s not. In truth, it’s the prison and home of the malevolent Dormammu. There is no time in the Dark Dimension. It only exists to consume other dimensions. This world is protected from him, thanks to the sorcerers I educated around the world. I take no pleasure in wielding power from the Dark Dimension, but you of all people know that sometimes the rules must be bent and broken for the greater good. Humanity has this same attitude. Hence the bombs that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and when the head council of S.H.I.E.L.D. ordered a tactical nuclear strike against Manhattan.”_

“That was a misguided attempt, and a foolish one at that. And World War II, that was a complete sham, a cover so that the US could test its most powerful weaponry,” Steve derided.

_“Cynical. Yes. True. Likely. But the world is not simply black and white. Not even the universe.”_

“What do you mean?”

_“The United States had three options: continue fighting, frighten Japan into submission, or accept a peace agreement. The first one would cost numerous lives, Allied fighters versus fanatical Japanese fighters, networks of bunker shelters that maximized casualties on both sides throughout the Pacific Islands for who knows how much longer. The second would also cost lives. Destroy two cities with powerful bombs and frighten Japan into submission, with most of the deaths being civilians. Or, a peace agreement that would leave much of the Pacific occupied by a tyrannical regime.”_

“When you put it that way, it sounds like an unwinnable situation,” Steve commented.

_“Sometimes, one has to make a hard decision.”_

“What would you do?” Steve asked.

_“I’m what you would call a utilitarian. I believe in the greatest good for the greatest number. If it takes one sacrifice to save many, I would make the sacrifice. Hopefully, it would be my own sacrifice. It’s easy to sacrifice yourself. Not so much when it’s others.”_

Steve realized just how right she was. It was easy if painful to pilot the bomber into the Arctic ice. If someone else had to do the same…he didn’t think he could live with himself for it. There wasn’t much difference between the world’s only super soldier and an ancient witch.

Elsewhere in the facility, Nat and Kiko took a break from their workout in the gymnasium, rehydrating and recovering.

“Kiko, I wanted to thank you for eavesdropping on my conversation with Bruce,” Nat said out of the blue.

“Did June…”

Nat nodded. “I don’t think you know how much it meant to me. The fact that she did that for me.”

“Actually, I know more than you realize. I know what it’s like to have something so precious, something you have and want and need, and have it just ripped away from you,” Kiko said.

“You mean…your husband?” Nat asked.

“Yes.” Kiko took a swig of water. “You know, that’s the main reason I told June about it.”

“What do you mean?” Nat soaked her head.

Kiko explained herself. “If it weren’t for the fact that I could empathize with the loss of something so precious as a choice, I would’ve left it to you to tell June. I mean, that’s a personal problem, a private one. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if she could heal something like that, but I told her anyway.”

“Still, I’m glad that you did.” Nat offered Kiko her hand. Kiko accepted it without hesitation. What was once a slight one-sided animosity becoming a companionship. “Are you excited to explore the stars?”

“No. I’m excited to go on an odyssey with my best friend,” Kiko corrected. “She’s pretty much the only family I have left. I’d rather not leave her again. I felt…human again after we reconnected. Like I had something to live for."

Natasha had something like that in Clint. The man sent in to assassinate her but made a different call and saved her instead. Her best friend, one of few people who knew about Laura Barton and the rest of Clint’s family.

* * *

Pietro drove himself and June back to headquarters. Maybe June didn’t get as good a night’s sleep as he thought, since she quickly fell asleep in the car. On the drive back, he thought about her words the previous night.

She was absolutely right, about how he could leave with her, maybe risk a breakup on the outset of their trip. Or he could stay with his sister who would always love and support him no matter what.

He stopped right outside the gates to the facility, pondering what he should do. It was easy for him to think that he wanted to go with June to space, but that meant spending a long time away from his sister again. And this time, maybe not seeing her again for a long time.

Now suddenly, he felt torn apart. What was he supposed to do next?

Nonetheless, there was little to do about it right now. But he needed to make a decision, one that would come to shape the rest of his life. He really wished that his brain could have registered the magnitude of that kind of decision.

“Hey, we’re back.” Pietro woke June up from her nap.

“Thanks.”

Pietro decided to take the slow path, meandering behind June back to the facility. Surprisingly, when Steve approached them, he didn’t seem as upset as Enchantress implied in her note.

“You guys have fun?” he asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Pietro nodded. June smiled with him.

“I thought you were upset,” she said. 

“I was at first, but only you guys didn’t come back here. But I realized that we’re not just Avengers or soldiers who fight impossible battles. A night on the town is what everyone needs,” Steve said.

“Because it reminds us what we’re fighting for,” Pietro said. “We literally discussed that in Central Park.”

“You guys eat anything?” Steve asked.

“Nothing good,” June commented.

“There’s food in the kitchen, might still be warm if you get there in time,” Steve told them. On cue, Pietro sped away, June hot on his trail. He didn’t slow down for her and got to the kitchen first. He waited for June to arrive and serve herself. His accelerated speed and metabolism meant that he was a literal black hole for food. He burned so much energy that he needed to eat multiple plates of food at every meal. 

After they ate June went back to her room. Pietro stayed behind to finish whatever food he had left. Wanda walked into the room not long after June left, and instantly sensed his torn thoughts and emotions.

“Good morning,” Pietro said.

“Welcome back. Do you want to tell me the problem, or do I have to look for myself?” Wanda asked.

The male Maximoff chuckled. He left her to read the problem. She peeked into his head. Fortunately, he wasn’t thinking about having sex with June. She saw the problem at the forefront of his mind.

“I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m just going to say that you should do what you think is right. Not for me, not for her, but for you. You do what you believe is right for you, what you want,” Wanda told her.

Pietro took Wanda’s words to heart. Sometimes, he forgot to think about himself and what he wanted, especially when it came to his sister. Trouble was, looking at things from that perspective, he still didn’t know what he should do. He wanted to stay with his new lover but didn’t want to leave his loving sister behind either. He loved both of them equally.

God…Almighty. How did Ursula from _The Little Mermaid_ put it?

_Life’s full of tough choices isn’t it?_

* * *

June stood alone in the training room, waiting for the others to arrive. She looked at herself in the floor’s reflection, in her battle attire, her dark staff in her hand. She thought about the crystalline sunflower around her neck. The flower itself not so much, but the sun for which the flower is named did match her.

The sun…beautiful and powerful. Life-giving but capable of untold amounts of destruction. Just like June herself.

June gazed at her own reflection and her dark staff. She held the weapon in both her hands, and closed her eyes, concentrating on everything about her.

Large protrusions grew out of the circle at the top of the staff. The protrusions grew and grew until they were sticking right out of the circle like porcupine spines. The spines grew their own protrusions that fused together, creating the effect of petals. Once June opened her eyes, she saw how she achieved exactly what she wanted.

Her staff’s tip went from a simple circle to the appearance of a sunflower. The petals were very sharp, making her strikes with this end of the staff all the more lethal. The change was not limited to her staff. Faint sun-like symbols adorned her white dress, and a false sunflower adorned her hat.

_“I like your new look.”_

“Thank you.”

The ashen witch summoned her blades, adopting a stance of attack. She smiled at June, who returned her confident smile.

Enchantress warped directly in front of June, swinging down her swords. June blocked them, parrying them away from her almost simultaneously. June spun to divert the blades and answered with her own counterattack, striking her with the base of her staff, a strike punctuated with her force magic.

The witch flipped and landed on her feet. She twirled her blades and leapt at June. She disappeared in midair. June already knew where she would go, two possible areas, either above or behind her.

Above was the correct anticipation. June backflipped out of the way and used the momentum of the flip to twirl her staff with tremendous force. The strike didn’t hit Enchantress directly, it hit her swords. The force of the strike was enough to knock her back into the air by multiple feet.

The staff required intricate knowledge of the body’s location, arms, feet, and every part of the body. Natasha helped her with that as did Kiko. Stretches and yoga exercises compounded with strength and weight training to ensure that she’d be strong, with or without use of magic.

The witch once more landed on her feet. She discarded her swords and moved her hands with grace and elegance. June immediately focused all of her senses into her environment, sensing for magic.

The ashen witch launched a barrage of mystical attacks towards June, all of her elemental magic. The witch barraged her from all directions, forcing June to use all of her still-nascent acrobatic moves to block the attacks. Cartwheels, tumbles, flips, and jumps and leaps combined in a strange dance, a dance that June used to block as many attacks as she could. Attacks that she didn’t block, she dodged them.

Force fields were the easy choice, but Enchantress wanted June to use more than just shields.

After two minutes, and June’s increasingly desperation to avoid getting struck, Enchantress relented. It gave June a chance to catch her breath for a moment. Enchantress did as most enemies would do, not give her an inch.

Enchantress used her most pragmatic power, her telekinesis, pulling June’s staff away from her. June struggled to call it back to her. It ended up a mental tug of war. Ancient arcane knowledge and power versus young and nascent knowledge.

June struggled more and more until she realized that Enchantress had no hold over the staff. The staff was unequivocally hers. She stopped struggling, and simply willed the staff to her, no struggle, no powerful concentration. Just focusing herself on bringing her staff back to her.

The struggle swiftly shifted in June’s favor, and the staff returned to her in short order. In response, Enchantress used her telekinesis all over June’s body, her limbs, head, and the staff. It became much harder to focus on keeping her staff with her.

Shields wouldn’t make a difference here. Telekinesis could bypass force fields. But June had another card to play, something else. She focused on her staff, on its power. A large multi-colored beam emerged from the staff, striking Enchantress. The power was so great and strong that the with was almost knocked out cold.

The witch was utmost happy with this. June finally mastered a new move. Enchantress could have looked into her head to find out, but this spell was one she wanted to learn by herself.

_“You did it, June. I knew you’d be able to do it.”_ This was a spell, the absorption spell. Force fields didn’t absorb so much as deflect most forms of energy. Through her staff, June could absorb magic energy and redirect it into a highly powerful beam. No limit to the amount of power the staff could hold.

June proudly smiled. “I did…didn’t I?” She was on the verge of tears, that was how proud of herself she was.

_“Let’s get some rest. Tomorrow, we begin our odyssey across the stars to discover more about the stones and where they might be.”_

* * *

As the sun rose over the horizon, June and Kiko sat outside, watching it rise, knowing it’d be the last time they saw the beautiful sunrise on Earth for some time. They were likely to find other worlds, but there would be nothing like home. This was their home, and they were going to miss it.

Even Enchantress came to love this planet. For every evil human in the world, she remembered that there were so many more good people. There were people that kept her from being out in the world, but another person was the one to free her.

The other Avengers came out to say their goodbyes. Natasha was particular tender with June, embracing her tightly, another gesture of gratitude for the restoration of her fertility. Everyone said goodbye to the everyone else, though Pietro was notably absent.

Enchantress presented a gift to Steve.

“What is this?” Steve asked.

_“This little device is a long-ranged communicator. If you ever need us, press send. It has the range of a few galaxies. Call us, we’ll come running as soon as possible.”_

“Thank you,” Steve said. The witch vanished back into June. She and Kiko boarded the spacecraft. June was quite hurt that Pietro didn’t come out to say goodbye. She walked into her bedroom to get her belongings in order on in her room, only to be startled to see Pietro in the room.

“Room for one more in here?” he asked with a wolfish smile.

“You came? What about…”

“I said goodbye to everyone last night. My sister fully supported my choice. Figured I’d surprise you,” he said.

“Well, it worked. Very well.” She kissed him like she couldn’t get enough of him. “Don’t play with my heart like that again, though.”

“No promises.”

“Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Lovebirds. I think you guys need to head to the bridge before you all get settled, see where we’re going,” ordered Jocasta.

Was it racist for June to automatically attach that voice to a black woman? Because to her that voice sounded very much like how a lot of black American women spoke, at least the ones she met in New York City. Jocasta's voice lacked that strong New York or Bronx accent, but the voice...it just sounded like it belonged to a black woman. An older one, like a woman in her forties. 

No time to think about that. The couple went up to the bridge. They sat down in the chairs. Kiko was in the front, and June joined her. The seats had their own control columns and everything else to help fly the ship. Pietro sat behind them. There was an empty chair for whenever Enchantress wanted to sit in a chair herself.

“You guys don’t need to fly this, I got it,” Jocasta said.

“We have a destination in mind?” Kiko asked.

“Enchantress wanted me to bring us to a place called Xandar. According to the data that Yon-Rogg left behind, it’s the capital of the Nova Empire, one of the most powerful in the Milky Way. I think it’d be best to begin the search for infinity stones there,” Jocasta told them.

June smiled at her friends. “Then Xandar it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this officially concludes this arc that encompassed The Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron. Now that we have dealt with these subjects, I will move on to other fandoms and include them. I already have several chapters completed. I will post all of them at the same time, but this time, I won't leave you hanging and not post the last one along with them. I want to thank whoever came here to read my story, no matter how few. I don't do this for the hits or to get readers, I do this because I love it.
> 
> I would appreciate some feedback for this, though, let me know what you thought overall through the story, what you liked or didn't.


	20. Post-credits

"Sire. The Mind Stone failed to deliver on its promise of being able to destroy Earth," said Cull Obsidian. 

"No matter. We now know there are two stones on the backwater planet alone." The Mad Titan, Thanos, the most feared being in existence, stood in the main hub of Sanctuary II. "Track the divergent group. Follow them. Learn everything you can. Hopefully, they will bring us straight to the Soul Stone."

"That won't work, Father." Another large feathered being walked up next to Thanos. 

"I know what you're going to request of me. I grant your request. Bring your sister to me. The others are expendable," Thanos decreed. 

"I will serve you proudly master. I will return my sister to us, and we shall finish what we started oh so many years ago."


End file.
